by Andrew J. Cherlin

About the author: Andrew J. Cherlin is a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

In his 1992 Public Interest article entitled "For the Sake of the Children," Richard Gill criticizes a study several collaborators and I published in 1991 on the effects of divorce on children. Gill first charges that our methodology and our interpretation are flawed, then launches into a broader discussion of contemporary marriage and divorce. In a 1991 Public Interest article, "Day Care or Parental Care"", Gill expressed similar concerns about the direction of family policy and the well-being of American children.

Gill's concern about children is well-founded, and we share it. It was never our intent to conduct a study that would absolve divorcing parents of guilt. In our current research, in fact, we have found some harmful effects of divorce on...