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The effect of child support on welfare exits and re-entries

Author

Listed:
  • Chien-Chung Huang

    (School of Social Work, Rutgers University, State University of New Jersey)

  • James Kunz

    (School of Social Work, University of Maryland)

  • Irwin Garfinkel

    (School of Social Work, Columbia University)

Abstract

Much of the literature on welfare dynamics has focused on the effects of recipient characteristics and state-level characteristics such as welfare benefits and economic conditions; there has been very little analysis on the effects of child support. This paper, using the 1979-1996 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, examines whether child support affects the likelihood of leaving and re-entering welfare. The results indicate that strong child support enforcement is important in helping young mothers exit and stay off welfare. Women with $1000 child support payments in the previous year were 18 percent more likely to exit welfare and 12 percent less likely to re-enter welfare. Compared with women in states that pursued child support least vigorously, women in states that had passed extensive child support enforcement legislation and that spent more money on child support enforcement were 79 percent more likely to exit welfare and about 60 percent less likely to re-enter welfare. © 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

Suggested Citation

  • Chien-Chung Huang & James Kunz & Irwin Garfinkel, 2002. "The effect of child support on welfare exits and re-entries," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 557-576.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:21:y:2002:i:4:p:557-576
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.10073
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Blank, Rebecca M., 1989. "Analyzing the length of welfare spells," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 245-273, August.
    2. C. Huang & I. Garfinkel & J. Waldfogel, "undated". "Child Support and Welfare Caseloads," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1218-00, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
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    5. Rebecca M. Blank & Patricia Ruggles, 1996. "When Do Women Use Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Food Stamps? The Dynamics of Eligibility Versus Participation," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(1), pages 57-89.
    6. Philip Gleason & Anu Rangarajan & Peter Schochet, 1998. "The Dynamics of Receipt of Aid to Families with Dependent Children among Teenage Parents in Inner Cities," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 33(4), pages 988-1002.
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    8. Daniel Meyer, 1993. "Child support and welfare dynamics: Evidence from Wisconsin," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 30(1), pages 45-62, February.
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    10. Irwin Garfinkel & Theresa Heintze & Chien-Chung Huang, 2001. "Child Support Enforcement: Incentives and Well-Being," JCPR Working Papers 215, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    11. Richard B. Freeman & Jane Waldfogel, 2001. "Dunning Delinquent Dads: The Effects of Child Support Enforcement Policy on Child Support Receipt by Never Married Women," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(2), pages 207-225.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kim, Yeonwoo & Padilla, Yolanda C. & Zhang, Anao & Oh, Sehun, 2018. "Young children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors after mothers exit welfare: Comparisons with children of non-welfare mothers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 316-323.
    2. Jean Knab & Irv Garfinkel & Sara McLanahan & Emily Moiduddin & Cynthia Osborne, 2008. "The Effects of Welfare and Child Support Policies on the Timing and Incidence of Marriage Following a Nonmarital Birth," Working Papers 898, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    3. Samara R. Gunter, 2018. "Child support wage withholding and father–child contact: parental bargaining and salience effects," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 427-452, June.
    4. Samara Gunter, 2013. "Effects of child support pass-through and disregard policies on in-kind child support," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 193-209, June.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Robert D. Plotnick & Irwin Garfinkel & Sara S. McLanahan & Inhoe Ku, 2007. "The impact of child support enforcement policy on nonmarital childbearing," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 79-98.
    8. Lincoln H. Groves, 2016. "Welfare Reform and Labor Force Exit by Young, Low-Skilled Single Males," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(2), pages 393-418, April.
    9. repec:pri:crcwel:wp07-10-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Lindsey Rose Bullinger, 2021. "Child Support and the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid Expansions," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 42-77, January.
    11. Huang, Chien-Chung & Han, Ke-Qing, 2012. "Child support enforcement in the United States: Has policy made a difference?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 622-627.
    12. Russell, Luke T. & Ganong, Lawrence & Schramm, David G. & Warzinik, Kelly & Roach, Andrea & Doubledee, Rachael, 2016. "A comparison of intergovernmental and private agency collection of child support arrears," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 166-173.
    13. Hodges, Leslie, 2020. "Do low-income parents who receive unemployment insurance pay more child support?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    14. Urvi Neelakantan, 2009. "The impact of changes in child support policy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 22(3), pages 641-663, July.
    15. Daniela Vuri, 2018. "Joint custody law and mothers’ labor market outcomes: evidence from the USA," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(4), pages 1203-1237, October.
    16. Huang, Chien-Chung & Edwards, Richard L., 2009. "The relationship between state efforts and child support performance," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 243-248, February.

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