Family structure and child health, a comparative approach using France and the U.K.

Olivier Thevenon, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Lidia Panico, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

A large body of literature has shown marked differences in the average level of resources and of child well-being across different family structures. Family structure may have a more detrimental effect on child health if in combination with other hardships, such as poverty. Furthermore, the relationship between family structure and outcomes for children or parents has been less studied in a comparative manner, even though family policies differ significantly across developed countries. In this paper, we consider whether family structure works in combination with socio-economic status to produce health inequalities in child outcomes in the UK and France. Using the British Millennium Cohort Study the French Etude Longitudinale Francaise depuis l’Enfance (Elfe), we characterise differences in a number of child outcomes across family structures and explore whether family structure works in combination with socio-economic status to produce health inequalities in postnatal outcomes in two countries with differing welfare and family policies. We are happy for this interdisciplinary work to be considered by either the "Policy issues", the "Families and households" or the "Health, wellbeing and morbidity" sessions.