Mothers and others: who invests in children's health?

We estimate the impact of family structure on investments made in children' s health, using data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey Child H ealth supplement. Controlling for household size, income and characteristic s, we find that children living with step-mothers are significantly less li kely to have routine doctor and dentist visits, or to have a place for usua l medical care, or for sick care. Who invests in children's health? It appe ars these investments are made, largely, by a child's mother, and that step -mothers are not substitutes far birth-mothers in this domain. (C) 2001 Els evier Science B.V. All rights reserved.