Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
    • Free Issue
    • Special Issues
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
    • Alerts
  • Announcements
  • Special Issue
  • Other Publications
    • UW Press Journals

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Human Resources
  • Other Publications
    • UW Press Journals
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Human Resources

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
    • Free Issue
    • Special Issues
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
    • Alerts
  • Announcements
  • Special Issue
  • Follow uwp on Twitter
  • Follow JHR on Bluesky
Research ArticleArticles

Fatherless

The Long-Term Effects of Losing a Father in the U.S. Civil War

View ORCID ProfileYannick Dupraz and Andreas Ferrara
Journal of Human Resources, July 2025, 60 (4) 1126-1174; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0122-12118R2
Yannick Dupraz
Yannick Dupraz is a permanent researcher at Paris-Dauphine University, PSL University, CNRS, IRD, LEDa, DIAL .
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Yannick Dupraz
  • For correspondence: yannick.dupraz{at}cnrs.fr
Andreas Ferrara
Andreas Ferrara is an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Economics, and NBER .
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: a.ferrara{at}pitt.edu
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Supplemental
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

References

  1. ↵
    1. Abramitzky, Ran,
    2. Leah Boustan, and
    3. Katherine Eriksson
    . 2012. “Europe’s Tired, Poor, and Huddled Masses: Self Selection and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migrations.” American Economic Review 102(5):1832–56.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
    1. Abramitzky, Ran,
    2. Leah Boustan, and
    3. Katherine Eriksson
    . 2014. “A Nation of Immigrants: Assimilation and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migrations.” Journal of Political Economy 122(3):467–506.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
  2. ↵
    1. Adda, Jerome,
    2. Anders Björklund, and
    3. Helena Holmlund
    . 2011. “The Role of Mothers and Fathers in Providing Skills: Evidence from Parental Deaths.” IZA Working Paper 5425. Bonn, Germany: IZA.
  3. ↵
    1. Ager, Philipp,
    2. Leah Boustan, and
    3. Katherine Eriksson
    . 2021. “The Intergenerational Effects of a Large Wealth Shock: White Southerners After the Civil War.” American Economic Review 111(11):3767–94.
    OpenUrl
  4. ↵
    1. Aigner, Dennis J.
    1973. “Regression with a Binary Independent Variable Subject to Errors of Observation.” Journal of Econometrics 1(1):49–59.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  5. ↵
    1. Ainsworth, Martha, and
    2. Deon Filmer
    . 2019. “Inequalities in Children’s Schooling: AIDS, Orphanhood, Poverty, and Gender.” World Development 34(6):1099–128.
    OpenUrl
  6. ↵
    1. Aizer, Anna,
    2. Shari Eli,
    3. Joseph Ferrie, and
    4. Adriana Lleras-Muney
    . 2016. “The Long-Run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families.” American Economic Review 106(4):935–71.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  7. ↵
    1. Bailey, Martha,
    2. Connor Cole,
    3. Morgan Henderson, and
    4. Catherine Massey
    . 2020. “How Well Do Automated Linking Methods Perform? Lessons from U.S. Historical Data.” Journal of Economic Literature 58(4):997–1044.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  8. ↵
    1. Bailey, Martha,
    2. Connor Cole, and
    3. Catherine Massey
    . 2020. “Simple Strategies for Improving Inference with Linked Data: A Case Study of the 1850–1930 IPUMS Linked Representative Historical Samples.” Historical Methods 53(2):80–93.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  9. ↵
    1. Bazzi, Samuel,
    2. Andreas Ferrara,
    3. Martin Fiszbein,
    4. Thomas P. Pearson, and
    5. Patrick A. Testa
    . 2021. “The Other Great Migration: Southern Whites and the New Right.” NBER Working Paper 29506. Cambridge, MA: NBER.
  10. ↵
    1. Beegle, Kathleen,
    2. Joachim De Weerdt, and
    3. Stefan Dercon
    . 2009. “The Intergenerational Impact of the African Orphans Crisis: A Cohort Study from an HIV/AIDS Affected Area.” International Journal of Epidemiology 38(2):561–68.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Beegle, Kathleen
    . 2010. “Orphanhood and Human Capital Destruction: Is There Persistence Into Adulthood?” Demography 47:163–80.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
  11. ↵
    1. Belloni, Alexandre,
    2. Victor Chernozhukov, and
    3. Christian Hansen
    . 2014. “Inference on Treatment Effects After Selection Among High-Dimensional Controls.” Review of Economic Studies 81(2):608–50.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  12. ↵
    1. Bhuller, Manudeep,
    2. Gordon B. Dahl,
    3. Katrine V. Loken, and
    4. Magne Mogstad
    . 2018. “Intergenerational Effects of Incarceration.” AEA Papers and Proceedings 108:234–40.
    OpenUrl
  13. ↵
    1. Bingley, Paul, and
    2. Alessandro Martinello
    . 2017. “Measurement Error in Income and Schooling, and the Bias for Linear Estimation.” Journal of Labor Economics 35(4):1117–48.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  14. ↵
    1. Black, Sandra, and
    2. Paul Devereux
    . 2011. “Recent Developments in Intergenerational Mobility.” In Handbook of the Economics of Education, ed. O. Ashenfelter and D. Card, 1487–541. New York: Elsevier.
  15. ↵
    1. Bockerman, Petri,
    2. Mika Haapanen, and
    3. Christopher Jepsen
    . 2021. “Dark Passage: Mental Health Consequences of Parental Death.” IZA Discussion Paper 14385. Bonn, Germany: IZA.
  16. ↵
    1. Case, Anne,
    2. Christina Paxson, and
    3. Joseph Ableidinger
    . 2004. “Orphans in Africa: Parental Death, Poverty, and School Enrollment.” Demography 41:483–508.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
  17. ↵
    1. Clark, Gregory, and
    2. Neil Cummins
    . 2015. “Intergenerational Wealth Mobility in England, 1858–2012: Surnames and Social Mobility.” Economic Journal 125(582):61–85.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  18. ↵
    1. Clemens, Jeffrey, and
    2. Parker Rogers
    . 2020. “Demand Shocks, Procurement Policies, and the Nature of Medical Innovation: Evidence from Wartime Prosthetic Device Patents.” NBER Working Paper 26679. Cambridge, MA: NBER.
  19. ↵
    1. Collins, William J., and
    2. Marianne H. Wanamaker
    . 2022. “African American Intergenerational Economic Mobility since 1880.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 14(3):84–117.
    OpenUrl
  20. ↵
    1. Collins, William J., and
    2. Ariell Zimran
    . 2023. “Working Their Way Up? U.S. Immigrants’ Changing Labor Market Assimilation in the Age of Great Migration.” American Economics Journal: Applied Economics. Forthcoming.
  21. ↵
    1. Conley, Timothy G.
    1999. “GMM Estimation with Cross Sectional Dependence.” Journal of Econometrics 92(1):1–45.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  22. ↵
    1. Connor, Dylan Shane, and
    2. Michael Storper
    . 2020. “The Changing Geography of Social Mobility in the United States.” PNAS 117(48):30309–17.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  23. ↵
    1. Corak, Miles.
    2001. “Death and Divorce: The Long-Term Consequences of Parental Loss on Adolescents.” Journal of Labor Economics 19(3):682–715.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  24. ↵
    1. Costa, Dora L.
    1995. “Pensions and Retirement: Evidence from Union Army Veterans.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 110(2):297–319.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  25. ↵
    1. Costa, Dora L.
    1997. “Displacing the Family: Union Army Pensions and Elderly Living Arrangements.” Journal of Political Economy 105(6):1269–92.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  26. ↵
    1. Costa, Dora L.
    2003. “Understanding Mid-Life and Older Age Mortality Declines: Evidence from Union Army Veterans.” Journal of Econometrics 112(2):175–92.
    OpenUrl
  27. ↵
    1. Costa, Dora L., and
    2. Matthew E. Kahn
    . 2003. “Cowards and Heroes: Group Loyalty in the American Civil War.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 118(2):519–48.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Costa, Dora L.
    2006. “Forging a New Identity: The Cost and Benefits of Diversity in Civil War Combat Units.” Journal of Economic History 66(4):936–62.
    OpenUrlWeb of Science
    1. Costa, Dora L.
    2007. “Surviving Andersonville: The Benefits of Social Networks in POW Camps.” American Economic Review 97(4):1467–87.
    OpenUrl
    1. Costa, Dora L.
    2008. Heroes and Cowards: The Social Face of War. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
    1. Costa, Dora L.
    2010. “Health, Wartime Stress, and Unit Cohesion: Evidence from Union Army Veterans.” Demography 47(1):45–66.
    OpenUrlPubMed
    1. Costa, Dora L.
    2014. “Leaders: Privilege, Sacrifice, Opportunity, and Personnel Economics in the American Civil War.” Journal of Law and Economics 30(3):437–62.
    OpenUrl
  28. ↵
    1. Costa, Dora L.,
    2. Noelle Yetter, and
    3. Heather DeSomer
    . 2018. “Intergenerational Transmission of Paternal Trauma Among US Civil War Ex-POWs.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 115(44):11215–20.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Costa, Dora L.
    2020. “Wartime Health Shocks and the Postwar Socioeconomic Status and Mortality of Union Army Veterans and Their Children.” Journal of Health Economics 70:1–16.
    OpenUrl
  29. ↵
    1. Dippel, Christian, and
    2. Stephan Heblich
    . 2021. “Leadership in Social Networks: Evidence from the ‘Forty-Eighters’ in the Civil War.” American Economic Review 111(2):472–505.
    OpenUrl
  30. ↵
    1. Dobbie, Will,
    2. Hans Gronqvist,
    3. Susan Niknami,
    4. Marten Palme, and
    5. Mikael Priks
    . 2018. “The Intergenerational Effects of Parental Incarceration.” NBER Working Paper 24186. Cambridge, MA: NBER.
  31. ↵
    1. Dunkelman, Mark H.
    1999. Gettysburg’s Unknown Soldier: The Life, Death, and Celebrity of Amos Humiston. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
  32. ↵
    1. Dupraz, Yannick, and
    2. Andreas Ferrara
    . 2023. “Fatherless: The Long-Term Effects of Losing a Father in the U.S. Civil War.” Ann Arbor, MI: ICPSR [distributor]. https://doi.org/10.3886/E183863V1
  33. ↵
    1. Eli, Shari.
    2015. “Income Effects on Health: Evidence from Union Army Pensions.” Journal of Economic History 75(2):448–78.
    OpenUrl
  34. ↵
    1. Eli, Shari,
    2. Trevon D. Logan, and
    3. Boriana Miloucheva
    . 2023. “The Enduring Effects of Racial Discrimination on Income and Health.” Journal of Economic Literature 61(3):924–40.
    OpenUrl
  35. ↵
    1. Eli, Shari,
    2. Laura Salisbury, and
    3. Allison Shertzer
    . 2018. “Ideology and Migration After the American Civil War.” Journal of Economic History 78(3):822–61.
    OpenUrl
  36. ↵
    1. Evans, David K., and
    2. Edward Miguel
    . 2007. “Orphans and Schooling in Africa: A Longitudinal Analysis.” Demography 44:35–57.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
  37. ↵
    1. Feigenbaum, James J.
    2018. “Multiple Measures of Historical Intergenerational Mobility: Iowa 1915 to 1940.” Economic Journal 128:446–81.
    OpenUrl
    1. Feigenbaum, James J.,
    2. James Lee, and
    3. Filippo Mezzanotti
    . 2022. “Capital Destruction and Economic Growth: The Effects of Sherman’s March, 1850–1920.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 14(4):301–42.
    OpenUrl
  38. ↵
    1. Ferrie, Joseph P.
    1996. “A New Sample of Males Linked from the Public Use Microdata Sample of the 1850 U.S. Federal Census of Population to the 1860 U.S. Federal Census Manuscript Schedules.” Historical Methods 29(4):141–56.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  39. ↵
    1. Fogel, Robert.
    2000. “Public Use Tape on the Aging of Veterans of the Union Army: U.S. Federal Census Records, 1850, 1860, 1900, 1910.” Provo, UT: Center for Population Economics, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, and Department of Economics, Brigham Young University.
  40. ↵
    1. Fogel, Robert,
    2. Dora L. Costa,
    3. Michael Haines,
    4. Chulhee Lee,
    5. Louis Nguyen,
    6. Clayne Pope,
    7. Irvin Rosenberg,
    8. Nevin Scrimshaw,
    9. James Trussell,
    10. Sven Wilson,
    11. Larry T. Wimmer,
    12. John Kim,
    13. Julene Bassett,
    14. Joseph Burton, and
    15. Noelle Yetter
    . 2000. “Aging of Veterans of the Union Army: Version M-5.” Chicago: Center for Population Economics, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Department of Economics, Brigham Young University, and The National Bureau of Economic Research.
  41. ↵
    1. Friedline, Terri,
    2. Rainier D. Masa, and
    3. Gina A.N. Chowa
    . 2015. “Transforming Wealth: Using the Inverse Hyperbolic Sine (IHS) and Splines to Predict Youth’s Math Achievement.” Social Science Research 49:264–87.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
    1. Gertler, Paul,
    2. David I. Levine, and
    3. Minnies Ames
    . 2004. “Schooling and Parental Death.” Review of Economics and Statistics 86(1):211–25.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  42. ↵
    1. Goldin, Claudia D., and
    2. Frank D. Lewis
    . 1975. “The Economic Cost of the American Civil War: Estimates and Implications.” Journal of Economic History 35(2):299–326.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  43. ↵
    1. Gruber, Jonathan.
    2004. “Is Making Divorce Easier Bad for Children? The Long-Run Implications of Unilateral Divorce.” Journal of Labor Economics 22(4):799–833.
    OpenUrl
  44. ↵
    1. Hacker, David J.
    2011. “A Census-Based Count of the Civil War Dead.” Civil War History 57(4):307–48.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  45. ↵
    1. Hall, Andrew B.,
    2. Connor Huff, and
    3. Shiro Kuriwaki
    . 2019. “Wealth, Slaveownership, and Fighting for the Confederacy: An Empirical Study of the American Civil War.” American Political Science Review 113(3):658–73.
    OpenUrl
  46. ↵
    1. Heckman, James,
    2. Rodrigo Pinto, and
    3. Peter Savelyev
    . 2013. “Understanding the Mechanisms Through Which an Influential Early Childhood Program Boosted Adult Outcomes.” American Economic Review 103(6):2052–86.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  47. ↵
    1. Inwood, Kris,
    2. Chris Minns, and
    3. Fraser Summerfield
    . 2019. “Occupational Income Scores and Immigrant Assimilation: Evidence from the Canadian Census.” Explorations in Economic History 72:114–22.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  48. ↵
    1. Jones, Jonathan.
    2020. “Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and Opiate Addiction.” Journal of the Civil War Era 10(2):185–212.
    OpenUrl
  49. ↵
    1. Kalil, Ariel,
    2. Magne Mogstad,
    3. Mari Rege, and
    4. Mark Votruba
    . 2016. “Father Presence and the Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment.” Journal of Human Resources 51(4):869–99.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  50. ↵
    1. Kovac, Dejan.
    2017. “Do Fathers Matter? Paternal Mortality and Children’s Long-Run Outcomes.” Princeton University Working Paper 609. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University.
  51. ↵
    1. Lee, Chulhee.
    1999. “Selective Assignment of Military Positions in the Union Army: Implications for the Impact of the Civil War.” Social Science History 23(1):67–97.
    OpenUrlWeb of Science
  52. ↵
    1. Lieberson, Stanley.
    2000. A Matter of Taste: How Names, Fashions and Culture Change. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  53. ↵
    1. Lundborg, Petter,
    2. Paul Nystedt, and
    3. Dan-Olof Rooth
    . 2014. “Height and Earnings: The Role of Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills.” Journal of Human Resources 49(1):141–66.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  54. ↵
    1. Margo, Robert A.
    2000. Wages and Labor Markets in the United States, 1820–1860. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
  55. ↵
    1. McClintock, Megan J.
    1996. “Civil War Pensions and the Reconstruction of Union Families” Journal of American History 83(2):456–80.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  56. ↵
    1. McPherson, James M.
    1988. Battle Cry of Freedom: The American Civil War. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  57. ↵
    1. Olivetti, Claudia, and
    2. M. Daniele Paserman
    . 2015. “In the Name of the Son (and the Daughter): Intergenerational Mobility in the United States, 1850–1940.” American Economic Review 105(8):2695–724.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  58. ↵
    1. Painter, Gary, and
    2. David I. Levine
    . 2000. “Family Structure and Youths’ Outcomes: Which Correlations are Causal?” Journal of Human Resources 35(3):524–49.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  59. ↵
    1. Pei, Zhuan,
    2. Jörn-Steffen Pischke, and
    3. Hannes Schwandt
    . 2018. “Poorly Measured Confounders are More Useful on the Left Than on the Right.” Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 37(2):205–16.
    OpenUrl
  60. ↵
    1. Preston, Samuel H., and
    2. Michael R. Haines
    . 1991. Fatal Years: Child Mortality in Late Nineteenth-Century America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  61. ↵
    1. Salisbury, Laura.
    2017. “Women’s Income and Marriage Markets in the United States: Evidence from the Civil War Pension.” Journal of Economic History 77(1):1–37.
    OpenUrl
  62. ↵
    1. Salisbury, Laura.
    2018. “Union Army Widows and the Historical Take-up of Social Benefits.” Unpublished.
  63. ↵
    1. Selcer, Richard F.
    2006. Civil War America, 1850 to 1875. New York: Facts on File.
  64. ↵
    1. Skocpol, Theda.
    1992. Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
  65. ↵
    1. Skocpol, Theda.
    1993. “America’s First Social Security System: The Expansion of Benefits for Civil War Veterans.” Political Science Quarterly 108(1):85–116.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  66. ↵
    1. Ward, Zachary.
    2020. “The Not-So-Hot Melting Pot: The Persistence of Outcomes for Descendants of the Age of Mass Migration.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 12(4):73–102.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Human Resources: 60 (4)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 60, Issue 4
1 Jul 2025
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Human Resources.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Fatherless
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Human Resources
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Human Resources web site.
Citation Tools
Fatherless
Yannick Dupraz, Andreas Ferrara
Journal of Human Resources Jul 2025, 60 (4) 1126-1174; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.0122-12118R2

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Fatherless
Yannick Dupraz, Andreas Ferrara
Journal of Human Resources Jul 2025, 60 (4) 1126-1174; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.0122-12118R2
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • I. Introduction
    • II. Historical Background and Related Literature
    • III. Data
    • IV. Empirical Strategy and Estimation Results
    • V. Conclusion
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Supplemental
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Testing Attrition Bias in Field Experiments
  • Impact of Raising the Retirement Age on Firms
  • Hours Constraints and Wage Differentials Across Firms
Show more Articles

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • N11
  • J13
  • J62
UW Press logo

© 2026 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Powered by HighWire