Children and parental health

Theme 2: Measuring and Valuing Outcomes

Standard evaluation methods do not take explicit account of “spillovers” – health externalities within the household
Research has focused mainly on carers – particularly the carers of older people with disabilities, but there has also been some research on impacts on children who have caring responsibilities for a sibling or parent
However, children may be significantly affected by the illness or disability of their parents, even if those children are not called upon to act as carers. Parental ill health may have a direct impact on the children’s mental health and wellbeing, and on the quality of parenting that the children receive. The family’s income may also be affected, leading to significant material deprivation in some cases.
These impacts on the children may impair their mental health, contribute to behavioural problems, or lead to damaging health behaviours – which may in turn have an adverse impact throughout the lifecourse

Aims

To assess the associations between parental health and a wide range of health-related child outcomes
To make a first attempt to quantify the impacts and indicate their potential significance for policy evaluation and cost-effectiveness work

Steve Pudney, Monica Hernandez, Allan Wailoo