The Impact of Parental Drinking on Children's Utilization of Health Care Services
- Presenter:
Chair: Edward Norton; Discussant: Hua Wang Mon June 5, 2006 13:45-15:15 Room 226
Approximately one in four children in the United States are exposed to alcohol abuse or dependence in the family by the age of 18. While prior research has underscored the detrimental effects that parental drinking inflicts upon children, there are no large scale studies analyzing the magnitude of these effects relative to the costs directly incurred by those affected by problem drinking. Using the National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative data set, this paper analyzes the economic consequences of parental risky drinking on children’s utilization of healthcare. We hypothesize that children with parents who misuse alcohol are more likely to suffer from certain health conditions (behavioral health problems, injuries, stress related conditions and physical abuse) that lead them to use more acute healthcare. On the other hand, negligence by a problem drinking parent can result in a lower demand for services that are not immediately needed by the child, such as dental or preventive care. The analysis is addressed in two ways. First, instrumental variables are used to analyze the impact of parental yearly consumption of alcohol on children’s use of healthcare services. Results indicate that higher amounts of parental drinking raise children’s utilization of mental healthcare, specialty care, and hospital services. Parental drinking also adds to the probability that a child goes without needed care and decreases the likelihood that a child has regular check-ups and dental visits. Children in non-intact or lower income families, girls and Hispanics are more likely to suffer the effects of parental risky drinking. A second analysis quantifies the effects of a change in a policy variable, beer tax, on children’s healthcare costs, controlling for various other state-related characteristics. Children’s use of acute healthcare services decrease substantially as the beer tax increases, and use of preventive services increase. Because female drinking is more elastic to beer tax than male drinking, it is possible that these differences are being led by variation in maternal alcohol consumption. Overall, the analysis suggests that the costs of parental alcoholism on children’s health and healthcare are not negligible and should be taken into consideration when designing policies and treatments, and when evaluating programs and outcomes.
