Divorce holds boys down, especially the less affluent.
The findings regarding young women are similar, though less robust, Lillard said. Young women of divorced parents are more likely to earn less than either of their parents, while women from intact families are more likely to earn more than either parent. Using statistical methods, the researchers matched the children at an older age with their parents at a young age to determine how similar their earnings and income were. The researchers presented their findings to the 1994 Allied Social Sciences Annual Meeting in Boston in January. Lillard points to numerous studies that have found that males from divorced families attain fewer years of education, and that more education is key to higher earnings.