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Welfare Benefits and Female Headship in US Time Series

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  • Robert A Moffitt

Abstract

There has been a considerable amount of work on the relationship between AFDC benefits and family structure in the US The evidence to date which uses cross-state variation in welfare benefits and family structure often with state fixed effects indicates that there is some nonzero effect of those benefits on marriage and fertility although there is disagreement on the magnitude of the effect However it is undisputed that time series trends in family structure are not correlated in the direction that the cross-state evidence would suggest for real benefits have been falling even relative to wages in aggregate time series This paper reexamines the time series evidence with particular attention to the role of wages in explaining trends in headship and notes that the correct specification includes both male as well as female wages When both are controlled welfare benefits have a slight positive impact on female headship even in time series The results demonstrate the importance of labor market factors in explaining trends in female headship

Suggested Citation

  • Robert A Moffitt, 2000. "Welfare Benefits and Female Headship in US Time Series," Economics Working Paper Archive 434, The Johns Hopkins University,Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:jhu:papers:434
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, March.
    2. Gary S. Becker & H. Gregg Lewis, 1974. "Interaction between Quantity and Quality of Children," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children, and Human Capital, pages 81-90, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Katz, Lawrence F. & Autor, David H., 1999. "Changes in the wage structure and earnings inequality," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 26, pages 1463-1555, Elsevier.
    4. Jacob Mincer, 1962. "Labor Force Participation of Married Women: A Study of Labor Supply," NBER Chapters, in: Aspects of Labor Economics, pages 63-105, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Sheldon Danziger & George Jakubson & Saul Schwartz & Eugene Smolensky, 1982. "Work and Welfare as Determinants of Female Poverty and Household Headship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 97(3), pages 519-534.
    6. Hotz, V-J & Kerman, J-A & Willis, R-J, 1996. "The Economics of Fertility in Developed Countries : A Survey," Papers 96-09, RAND - Labor and Population Program.
    7. Levy, Frank & Murnane, Richard J, 1992. "U.S. Earnings Levels and Earnings Inequality: A Review of Recent Trends and Proposed Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 1333-1381, September.
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    9. Gary S. Becker, 1960. "An Economic Analysis of Fertility," NBER Chapters, in: Demographic and Economic Change in Developed Countries, pages 209-240, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Dickins, William T, 1990. "Error Components in Grouped Data: Is It Ever Worth Weighting?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 328-333, May.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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