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Testing the Economic Independence Hypothesis: The Effect of an Exogenous Increase in Child Support on Subsequent Marriage and Cohabitation

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  • Maria Cancian
  • Daniel Meyer

Abstract

We examine the effects of an increase in income on the cohabitation and marriage of single mothers. Using data from an experiment that resulted in randomly assigned differences in child support receipt for welfare-receiving single mothers, we find that exogenous income increases (as a result of receiving all child support that was paid) are associated with significantly lower cohabitation rates between mothers and men who are not the fathers of their child(ren). Overall, these results support the hypothesis that additional income increases disadvantaged women’s economic independence by reducing the need to be in the least stable type of partnerships. Our results also show the potential importance of distinguishing between biological and social fathers. Copyright The Author(s) 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Cancian & Daniel Meyer, 2014. "Testing the Economic Independence Hypothesis: The Effect of an Exogenous Increase in Child Support on Subsequent Marriage and Cohabitation," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 857-880, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:51:y:2014:i:3:p:857-880
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-014-0295-8
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    Cited by:

    1. Maria Cancian & Yiyoon Chung & Daniel R. Meyer, 2016. "Fathers’ Imprisonment and Mothers’ Multiple-Partner Fertility," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(6), pages 2045-2074, December.
    2. Rossin-Slater, Maya & Wüst, Miriam, 2018. "Parental responses to child support obligations: Evidence from administrative data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 183-196.
    3. Ports, Katie A. & Tang, Shichao & Treves-Kagan, Sarah & Rostad, Whitney, 2021. "Breaking the cycle of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Economic position moderates the relationship between mother and child ACE scores among Black and Hispanic families," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    4. Patrick Ishizuka, 2018. "The Economic Foundations of Cohabiting Couples’ Union Transitions," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(2), pages 535-557, April.
    5. Cygan-Rehm, Kamila & Kuehnle, Daniel & Riphahn, Regina T., 2018. "Paid parental leave and families’ living arrangements," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 182-197.
    6. Fisher, Hayley, 2015. "The Impact of Child Support Receipt on Household Income and Labour Supply," Working Papers 2015-20, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    7. Kamila Cygan-Rehm & Daniel Kühnle & Regina T. Riphahn, 2017. "Love your Leave, Don't Leave your Love! Paid Parental Leave and Children's Living Arrangements," CESifo Working Paper Series 6319, CESifo.
    8. Hodges, Leslie, 2020. "Do low-income parents who receive unemployment insurance pay more child support?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    9. Schaubert, Marianna, 2022. "Do courts know how to incentivize? Behavioral response of non-resident parents to child support obligations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    10. Hayley Fisher, 2017. "The Impact of Child Support on the Household Income and Labour Supply of Payee Lone Mothers," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 93(301), pages 189-213, June.
    11. Schaubert, Marianna, 2018. "Behavioral Response of Non-Resident Parents to Child Support Obligations: Evidence From SOEP," EconStor Preprints 203675, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

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