(D. Britto, R. Hsu Rocha, P. Pinotti and B. Sampaio)
May 2025 submitted
We investigate the effect of having a child on parents’ criminal behavior using administrative data from Brazil. Fathers’ criminal activity increases sharply by up to 10% during the pregnancy period, and by up to 30% two years after birth, while mothers experience only a transitory decline in criminal activity around childbirth. The effect on fathers lasts for at least six years and explains 5% of the overall male crime rate. Domestic violence within the family also increases after childbirth. These results are based on a difference-in-difference design leveraging variation in the timing childbirth, and further supported by an analysis leveraging the exogeneity of twin births. The generalized increase in fathers’ crime stands in sharp contrast with previous evidence from developed countries, where criminal behavior by both parents markedly decreases with childbirth. Our findings can be explained by the costs of parenthood and the prevalence of poverty among newly formed Brazilian families. Consistent with this explanation, we provide novel evidence that access to maternity benefits largely offsets the increase in crime by fathers after childbirth.