Publications
Publications
Fertility Outcomes of Children with Divorced Parents: Evidence from Population Data (with Deni Mazrekaj and Kristof De Witte). Forthcoming at Demography.
Information shocks and parental response in education. A case study of an open government initiative (with Fritz Schiltz and Kristof De Witte). Government Information Quarterly (2022).
Mazrekaj, D., Palmaccio, S., & De Witte, K. Research on children with LGBTQ parents: Challenges and a way forward. In G. Kaufman, M. Stambolis-Ruhstorfer, S. Roberts, & B. Ralph (Eds) Research Handbook on the Sociology of Gender. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd (2024).
Early Labor Market Outcomes of Young Adults from Same-Sex Families: Evidence from Population Data (with Deni Mazrekaj and Kristof De Witte).
Abstract. Although most studies suggest that children from same-sex families perform at least as well as children from different-sex families in childhood or adolescence, data limitations have prevented investigation of how children from same-sex families perform in adulthood. Using Dutch longitudinal tax registers, we offer the first population-based evidence on how young adults from same-sex families fare when entering the labor market after finishing their education. We observe 309,832 young adults who are no longer in education in their early adulthood, of which 646 are from same-sex families. Our results suggest that young adults who lived in a same-sex family perform just as well early on the labor market as young adults from different-sex families. However, we also find considerable differences by the time spent in a same-sex family. Young adults raised by same-sex parents from birth are more employed in part-time occupations and more often choose industries dominated by the opposite sex.
The Beauty and the Beast: Not a happy ending. Male physical unattractiveness and sexual violence perpetration (with Maria Laura Di Tommaso, Silvia Mendolia, and Giulia Savio).
Abstract. Little is known about whether an individual's level of attractiveness plays a role in the likelihood of perpetrating sexual violence. Using U.S. data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we examine the relationship between attractiveness and sexual violence perpetration against one's partner. To operationalize beauty, we use physical attractiveness scores assigned by interviewers to survey respondents between the ages of 12 and 17. Our results show that within the sample of men, a 1-point increase in beauty rating (on a scale of 1-5) reduces the likelihood of having perpetrated sexual violence on the partner in adulthood by 13 percent. We also find that parental investment -- proxied by birth order -- mitigates this association, as very unattractive men who received high levels of parental investment have substantially lower predicted probabilities of perpetrating sexual violence compared to their counterparts who received low levels of parental investment.
The effect of the birth of a halfsibling and the presence of stepsiblings on children's educational achievements (with Deni Mazrekaj and Kristof De Witte).
Abstract. Over the past few decades, there has been an increase in the number of children who first experienced the separation of their parents and then the transition to a stepfamily. Yet, we know very little about whether exposure to complex sibling structures affects the educational outcomes of children in stepfamilies. Using administrative population data from the Netherlands, we investigate the educational outcomes of children born in 1995-2009 who experienced the birth of a half-sibling or the move of stepsiblings into the household. To account for endogeneity, we exploit variation in the timing of the sibling structure formation. The results indicate that neither the birth of a half-sibling nor the presence of stepsiblings significantly affects children’s test scores in primary education and high school diploma attainment. Our findings suggest that adding sibling complexity to families does not lead to more educational difficulties for children.
The child disability penalty: A global, comparative approach (with Nicoletta Balbo, Elisabetta De Cao, Francesco De Luca, and Giorgio Nocerino).
Child disability spillovers on schoolmates' noncognitive outcomes (with Nicoletta Balbo).
Grandparents and Teens: The Social and Emotional Benefits of Intergenerational Connections.
La violenza nasce dall'aspetto fisico. Degli uomini. [Violence rises from physical appearance. Of men.] (with Maria Laura Di Tommaso, Silvia Mendolia, and Giulia Savio), La Voce (2025).
Als een doorsnee gezin niet meer traditioneel is [When the average family is no longer traditional] (with Kristof De Witte and Deni Mazrekaj), Leuvense Economische Standpunten, 2023/205 (2023).
Barriers to Same-Sex Parenting Remain in Europe and are Unfounded (with Deni Mazrekaj and Kristof De Witte). Feminist Perspectives, King’s College London (2021).