Data and code for: Family formation and crime

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Maxim Massenkoff, Naval Postgraduate School; Evan Rose, University of Chicago

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  atus 03/05/2024 02:19:PM
  build_code 03/05/2024 02:19:PM
  data 03/05/2024 03:19:PM
  do 03/05/2024 03:19:PM
  dump 03/05/2024 03:20:PM
  fig 03/05/2024 03:35:PM
  out 03/05/2024 03:37:PM
  sipp 03/05/2024 03:40:PM
  tables 03/05/2024 03:40:PM
crime_results.sh application/x-sh 1.5 KB 08/26/2024 09:11:AM

Project Citation: 

Massenkoff, Maxim, and Rose, Evan. Data and code for: Family formation and crime. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2024. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2024-09-11. https://doi.org/10.3886/E191750V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary We use administrative data from Washington State to perform a large-scale analysis of the impact of family formation on crime. Our estimates indicate that pregnancy triggers sharp declines in arrests rivaling any known intervention, supporting the view that childbirth is a "turning point" that reduces deviant behavior through social bonds. For mothers, criminal arrests drop precipitously in the first few months of pregnancy, stabilizing at half of pre-pregnancy levels three years after birth. Men show a sustained 20 percent decline in crime that begins at pregnancy, although arrests for domestic violence spike at birth. These effects are concentrated among first-time parents, suggesting that a permanent change in preferences---rather than transitory time and budget shocks---may be responsible. A separate design using parents of stillborn children to estimate counterfactual arrest rates reinforces the main findings. Marriage, in contrast, is not associated with any sudden changes and marks the completion of a gradual 50 percent decline in arrests for both men and women.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms crime statistics; family; marrriage
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
      J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
      K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage United States
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1/1/2003 – 1/1/2018
Universe:  View help for Universe Crime data cannot be shared. But the SIPP and ATUS data sample from the adult US population.
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) survey data


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V1 [2024-09-11]

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