TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Fernández-Kranz, Daniel
AU  - Fontenay, Sébastien
        TI  - Childhood Exposure to Joint Custody Reforms and Adult Family Formation
        PY  - 2026/Jul/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18831
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18831
        AB  - Joint custody reforms are among the most consequential family-law changes for children, yet little is known about their long-term effects. Exploiting staggered adoption across US states and 13 million ACS observations, we show that childhood exposure reduces adult fertility by 7 percent, symmetrically for women and men and operates primarily through lower parenthood and couple formation. Effects are sub-additive within couples, while exposed individuals assortatively match. Our findings point to the formation of family preferences during childhood and align with a US fertility decline increasingly driven by rising childlessness and declining couple formation rather than smaller families among parents.
        KW  - fertility
KW  - joint custody
KW  - family law
KW  - household behavior
KW  - intergenerational transmission
        ER  -