ABSTRACT
One of the most crucial debates that has been ongoing among those examining the effects of divorce on family structure has been how to best control for socioeconomic status (SES). This debate first rose to prominence in the early 1970s (Herzog and Sudia, 1971). However, as statistical analysis has become more sophisticated in recent years, it has emerged once again (Acock and Kiecolt, 1989; Boes, 1995; Jeynes, 1998c; Kinard and Reinherz, 1986; McLanahan and Sandefur, 1994). The initial debate about SES arose because Herzog and Sudia (1971) objected to some of the conclusions of many of the studies done up until that point, asserting that the studies did not sufficiently control for SES. A significant number of the early studies on the effects of the divorce either nominally controlled for SES or included no control for SES at all. Usually, a measure of SES has three major components: (a) family income; (b) parental educa-tion; and (c) parental occupation. Herzog and Sudia (1971) argued that too many studies on the effects of parental divorce excluded one or more of these components.
