PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lenna Nepomnyaschy
AU  - Allison Dwyer Emory
AU  - Kasey J. Eickmeyer
AU  - Maureen R. Waller
AU  - Daniel P. Miller
TI  - Parental Debt and Child Well-Being: What Type of Debt Matters for Child Outcomes?
AID  - 10.7758/RSF.2021.7.3.06
DP  - 2021 Aug 01
TA  - RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
PG  - 122--151
VI  - 7
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/7/3/122.short
4100  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/7/3/122.full
AB  - Wealth inequality in the United States has increased tremendously over the last several decades and has potentially serious repercussions for disparities in child well-being. Household debt, a key component of wealth, may also play a role in such disparities. In this study, we explore the associations of parents’ unsecured debt with children’s socioemotional well-being. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we compare the associations of mothers’ unsecured household debt, fathers’ unsecured household debt, and fathers’ child support arrears with socioemotional outcomes among nine- and fifteen-yearold children who have a nonresident father. We find robust evidence that nonresident fathers’ child support arrears, but not other types of parental household debt, are associated with worse outcomes and that these associations become stronger as children age.