Making Single Mothers Work: Recent Tax and Welfare Policy and its Effects

We describe the enormous changes in social and tax policy in recent years that have encouraged work by single mothers. We document the changes in federal and state income taxes, AFDC and Food Stamp benefits, Medicaid, training, and child care programs. We describe the quantitative importance of these changes and their timing. We also describe how these changes differed across states and show how they affected families with different numbers and ages of children and with different family incomes. We then examine whether the changes in employment rates over time for different demographic groups and states are consistent with a causal effect of these policies on employment. We use multiple comparison groups and two datasets over a long time period. The results support the more structural findings in Meyer and Rosenbaum (1999a) of substantial EITC effects on employment as well as the findings in Eissa and Liebman (1996) and Ellwood (1999).">

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Citations for "Making Single Mothers Work: Recent Tax and Welfare Policy and its Effects"

by Bruce D. Meyer & Dan T. Rosenbaum

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Signe-Mary McKernan & Robert I. Lerman & Nancy Pindus & Jesse Valente, 2000. "The Relationship between Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Locations, Changing Welfare Policies, and the Employment of Single Mothers," JCPR Working Papers 192, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
Gary Burtless, 2001. "Can Supply-Side Policies Reduce Unemployment? Lessons from North America," CEPR Discussion Papers 440, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Gary Burtless, 2002. "Can Supply-Side Policies Reduce Unemployment? Lessons from North America," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 35(1), pages 3-28. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Susan E Mayer, 2000. "Why Welfare Caseloads Fluctuate: A Review of Research on AFDC, SSI, and the Food Stamps Program," Treasury Working Paper Series 00/07, New Zealand Treasury. [Downloadable!]
Corrado Andini, 2005. "Unemployment and Welfare Participation in a Structural VAR: Rethinking the 1990s in the United States (Revised)," HEW 0501005, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
Richard Dickens & David Ellwood, 2001. "Whither Poverty in Great Britain and the United States? The Determinants of Changing Poverty and Whether Work Will Work," CEP Discussion Papers 0506, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Richard Dickens & David T. Ellwood, 2001. "Whither Poverty in Great Britain and the United States? The Determinants of Changing Poverty and Whether Work Will Work," NBER Working Papers 8253, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Marianne Bitler & Jonah Gelbach & Hilary Hoynes, 2004. "Welfare Reform and Health," NBER Working Papers 10549, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Marianne P. Bitler & Jonah B. Gelbach & Hilary W. Hoynes, 2004. "Welfare Reform and Health," Working Papers 102-1, RAND Corporation Publications Department. [Downloadable!]
Maria Cancian & Arik Levinson, 2005. "Labor Supply Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit: Evidence from Wisconsin Supplemental Benefit for Families with Three Children," NBER Working Papers 11454, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Robert Kaestner & June O'Neill, 2002. "Has Welfare Reform Changed Teenage Behaviors?," NBER Working Papers 8932, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Harry J. Holzer & Michael A. Stoll, 2000. "Employer Demand for Welfare Recipients By Race," JCPR Working Papers 197, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
Other versions:
- H. J. Holzer & M. A. Stoll, . "Employer Demand for Welfare Recipients by Race," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1213-00, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty. [Downloadable!]
- Harry J. Holzer & Michael A. Stoll, 2003. "Employer Demand for Welfare Recipients by Race," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(1), pages 210-241, January. [Downloadable!]
Lance Lochner, 2004. "Education, Work, and Crime: A Human Capital Approach," NBER Working Papers 10478, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Lance Lochner, 2004. "Education, Work, And Crime: A Human Capital Approach," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 45(3), pages 811-843, 08. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Jeff DeSimone & Jeff Rinehart, 2001. "Labor force participation responses to the 1993 EITC expansion," Economics Bulletin, Economics Bulletin, vol. 8, pages 1-9. [Downloadable!]
Corrado Andini, 2004. "Unemployment and Welfare Participation in a Structural VAR: Rethinking the 1990S in the United States," CELPE Discussion Papers 80, CELPE (Centre of Labour Economics and Economic Policy), University of Salerno, Italy. [Downloadable!]
Koen Burggraeve & Philip Du Caju, 2003. "The labour market and fiscal impact of labour reductions: the case of reduction of employers' social security contributions under a wage norm regime with automatic price indexing of wages," Research series 200303-1, National Bank of Belgium. [Downloadable!]
Harry J. Holzer & Michael A. Stoll & Douglas Wissoker, 2001. "Job Performance and Retention Among Welfare Recipients," JCPR Working Papers 231, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
Nada Eissa & Hilary Hoynes, 2008. "Redistribution and Tax Expenditures: The Earned Income Tax Credit," NBER Working Papers 14307, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Gary Burtless, 2003. "Has Widening Inequality Promoted or Retarded US Growth?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 29(s1), pages 185-202, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Marianne P. Bitler & Jonah B. Gelbach & Hilary W. Hoynes, 2003. "Welfare Reform and Children's Living Arrangements," Working Papers 111, RAND Corporation Publications Department. [Downloadable!]
Ximing Wu & Jeffrey Perloff & Amos Golan, 2002. "Effects of Government Policies on Income Distribution and Welfare," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series 950, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Ximing Wu & Jeffrey Perloff & Amos Golan, 2002. "Effects of Government Policies on Income Distribution and Welfare," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series 1023, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
Theodore Joyce & Robert Kaestner & Sanders Korenman, 2002. "Welfare Reform and Non-Marital Fertility in the 1990s: Evidence from Birth Records," NBER Working Papers 9406, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Ted Joyce & Robert Kaestner & Sanders Korenman, 2003. "Welfare Reform and Non-Marital Fertility in the 1990s: Evidence from Birth Records," Advances in Economic Analysis & Policy, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 3(1), pages 1108-1108. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
David T. Ellwood, 1999. "The Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Social Policy Reforms on Work, Marriage, and Living Arrangements," JCPR Working Papers 124, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
David Neumark & William Wascher, 2000. "Using the EITC to Help Poor Families: New Evidence and a Comparision with the Minimum Wage," NBER Working Papers 7599, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Dickens, Richard & Ellwood, David T., 2001. "Whither Poverty in Great Britain and the United States? The Determinants of Changing Poverty and Whether Work Will Work," Working Paper Series rwp01-010, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. [Downloadable!]
Hilary Hoynes & Richard Blundell, 2001. "Has "In-Work" Benefit Reform Helped the Labour Market?," NBER Working Papers 8546, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
David Neumark & William Wascher, 2000. "Using the EITC to Increase Family Earnings: New Evidence and a Comparison with the Minimum Wage," JCPR Working Papers 134, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
Flood, Lennart & Pylkkänen, Elina & Wahlberg, Roger, 2003. "From Welfare to Work: Evaluating a Proposed Tax and Benefit Reform Targeted at Single Mothers in Sweden," IZA Discussion Papers 891, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
Jane Waldfogel, 2007. "Welfare Reforms and Child Well-Being in the US and UK," CASE Papers /126, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE. [Downloadable!]
Flood, Lennart & Pylkkänen, Elina & Wahlberg, Roger, 2003. "From Welfare to Work: Evaluating a Proposed Tax and Benefit Reform Targeted at Single Mothers in Sweden," Working Papers in Economics 107, Göteborg University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
Hsien-Hen Lu & Julian Palmer & Younghwan Song & Mary C. Lennon & J. Lawrence Aber, 2004. "Children facing economic hardships in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 10(11), pages 287-338, June. [Downloadable!]
Nada Eissa & Hilary Hoynes, 2005. "Behavioral Responses to Taxes: Lessons from the EITC and Labor Supply," NBER Working Papers 11729, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Hilary Hoynes & Marianne Page & Ann Stevens, 2005. "Poverty in America: Trends and Explanations," NBER Working Papers 11681, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Hilary W. Hoynes & Marianne E. Page & Ann Huff Stevens, 2006. "Poverty in America: Trends and Explanations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 47-68, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
V. Joseph Hotz & John Karl Scholz, 2006. "Examining the Effect of the Earned Income Tax Credit on the Labor Market Participation of Families on Welfare," NBER Working Papers 11968, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

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