ERIC Number: EJ686584
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Feb
Pages: 16
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-2445
EISSN: N/A
Welfare Reform and Teenage Pregnancy, Childbirth, and School Dropout
Hao, Lingxin; Cherlin, Andrew J.
Journal of Marriage and Family, v66 n1 p179-194 Feb 2004
This study estimates the effect of welfare reform on adolescent behaviors using a difference-indifferences approach. After defining the prereform and reform cohorts and considering the life course development of adolescent behavior by following each cohort from age 14 to age 16, we compare the welfare-target and nontarget populations in the two cohorts. The difference-indifferences estimates are obtained using an event history model. Our analysis suggests that welfare reform has not reduced teenage fertility and school dropout. We find modest evidence that welfare reform is associated with higher risk of teenage births for girls in welfare families and higher risk of school dropout for girls in poor families. A combination of a difference-indifferences approach and a life course perspective can be a useful way to delineate the effect of societal-level change on family phenomena.
Descriptors: Females, Dropouts, Pregnancy, Welfare Services, Welfare Recipients, Adolescents, Early Parenthood, At Risk Persons, Behavior Change, Poverty
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Junior High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A