The key purpose of educational welfare officers in England is to support students and parents to maximise educational opportunities for young people. However more is known about their role in relation to school attendance than in relation to pupils' educational outcomes. Using the Longitudinal Survey of Young People in England (LSYPE), this paper…

Four specific personality factors have been theorized to put adolescents at risk for alcohol abuse: hopelessness (HOP), anxiety sensitivity (AS), sensation seeking (SS), and impulsivity (IMP). We examined relations of these personality factors to various alcohol-related indices in a sample at high risk for alcohol problems--specifically, a child…

Many young people have short spells of unemployment during their transition from school to work; however, some often get trapped in unemployment and risk becoming long-term unemployed. Much research has been undertaken on the factors that influence unemployment risk for young people during their school-to-work transition. However, very little is…

Wisconsin's influential Learnfare initiative is a conditional cash "penalty" program that sanctions a family's welfare grant when covered teens fail to meet school attendance targets. In the presence of reference-dependent preferences, Learnfare provides uniquely powerful financial incentives for student performance. However, a 10-county…

We investigate possible explanations for the large decline in U.S. teen childbearing that occurred in the twenty years following the 1991 peak. Our review of previous evidence and the results of new analyses presented here leads to the following main set of observations. First, the observed decline in teen childbearing is even more surprising…

To assess prevalence and odds for teenage parenthood among former child welfare clients, we used national register data for all children born in Sweden 1972-1983 (n = 1,178,207), including 49,582 former child welfare clients with varying intervention experiences. Logistic regression models, adjusted for demographic, socio-economic and familial…

This study, conducted in 2000-01, investigated young mothers' experiences with the receipt of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), focusing on whether changes in the TANF application process for teen parents were needed, whether the TANF system inappropriately led to teen exits, and whether local welfare offices were effectively…

This report examines the experiences of homeless young parents with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, which can be an important tool in helping them achieve long-term stability and economic self-sufficiency. The 1996 welfare reform act included special provisions that applied only to minor teen parents, requiring them to…

Analyzes recent media accounts of teen mothers, identifying interpretive frames associated with the discourses of bureaucratic experts, conservatives, oppositional movements, and the mothers themselves. The dominant discourse is that of the bureaucratic experts who have incentives to tell their own stigma stories about teen mothers. (SLD)

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…

A longitudinal study of urban (Baltimore) black teenage mothers and their welfare experiences following the birth of their first child was started in the 1960s by Frank Furstenberg and has continued for more than 20 years. Information was gathered from 3 generations of the families of 300 women. Most of the school-aged mothers were not married at…

This report presents an analysis of the effectiveness of Ohio's Learning, Earning, and Parenting (LEAP) Program in encouraging school attendance by pregnant and parenting teenagers on welfare. It describes LEAP as a statewide program that provides pregnant and parenting teenagers with financial incentives to go to school. The report's eight…

This paper examines conflicting evidence regarding the impacts of welfare reform on children's wellbeing. Research shows that poverty rates, teen crime and fertility, and child maltreatment are down. Lack of appropriate state-level data on indicators of child wellbeing precludes serious analysis of the role of welfare reform for most indicators.…

This paper presents data from a survey of all 50 states that examined specific programs and policies being pursued at the state level to discourage teenage and nonmarital childbearing. Overall, the teen childbearing rate has continued to fall, and in 1999 it was the lowest on record. Some research points to a relationship between welfare policies…

Wisconsin's Learnfare program requires 13- to 19-year-old recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to maintain good school attendance or risk losing a portion of their families' grants. The program offers those with attendance problems the opportunity to work with case managers to identify causes of their poor attendance, as…