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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Are There Returns To Experience At Low-Skill Jobs? Evidence From Single Mothers In The United States Over The 1990s, Adam Looney, Dayanand S. Manoli
Are There Returns To Experience At Low-Skill Jobs? Evidence From Single Mothers In The United States Over The 1990s, Adam Looney, Dayanand S. Manoli
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
Policy changes in the United States in the 1990s resulted in sizable increases in employment rates of single mothers. We show that this increase led to a large and abrupt increase in work experience for single mothers with young children. We then examine the economic return to this increase in experience for affected single mothers. Despite the increases in experience, single mothers’ real wages and employment have remained relatively unchanged. The empirical analysis suggests that an additional year of experience increases single mothers’ wage rates by less than 2 percent, a percentage lower than previous estimates in the literature.
Unemployment Insurance And Low-Educated Single Working Mothers Before And After Welfare Reform, H. Luke Shaefer, Liyun Wu
Unemployment Insurance And Low-Educated Single Working Mothers Before And After Welfare Reform, H. Luke Shaefer, Liyun Wu
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), a nationally representative, longitudinal survey, this study examines changing levels of Unemployment Insurance (UI) eligibility and benefit receipt among working low-educated single mothers, 1990–2005. It also examines changing participation in cash welfare and the Food Stamp Program (FSP). Relative to single childless women, there has been no increase in UI benefit receipt among single mothers entering a spell of unemployment in the postreform period, even though single mothers have increased their relative rates of UI eligibility. Because of declining cash assistance receipt, UI became a more common income support than cash …
Welfare Reform, Saving, And Vehicle Ownership: Do Asset Limits And Vehicle Exemptions Matter?, James X. Sullivan
Welfare Reform, Saving, And Vehicle Ownership: Do Asset Limits And Vehicle Exemptions Matter?, James X. Sullivan
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
This paper examines whether AFDC/TANF asset tests affect the asset holdings of low-educated single mothers, exploiting variation in asset limits and exemptions across states and over time. There are important reasons to examine vehicle assets in this context. For example, vehicles make up a very significant share of total wealth for poor families, and the variation in vehicle exemptions over time and across states far exceeds the variation in asset limits. Consistent with other recent research, I find little evidence that asset limits have an effect on the amount of liquid assets that single mothers hold. However, I find evidence …
Single Mothers Working At Night: Standard Work, Child Care Subsidies, And Implications For Welfare Reform, Erdal Tekin
Single Mothers Working At Night: Standard Work, Child Care Subsidies, And Implications For Welfare Reform, Erdal Tekin
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
This paper estimates the effect of child care subsidies on the standard work decision of single mothers and examines whether this effect differs between welfare recipients and nonrecipients. The analysis uses data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families. Results suggest that child care subsidy receipt is associated with a 6.9 percentage point increase in the probability of single mothers' working at standard jobs. When the effect of subsidy receipt is allowed to differ between welfare recipients and nonrecipients, results indicate that welfare recipients who are offered a child care subsidy are 14 percentage points more likely to work …
Instrumental Variable Estimates Of The Labor Market Spillover Effects Of Welfare Reform, Timothy J. Bartik
Instrumental Variable Estimates Of The Labor Market Spillover Effects Of Welfare Reform, Timothy J. Bartik
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
By increasing the labor supply of welfare recipients, welfare reform may reduce wages and increase unemployment among other less-educated groups. These "spillover effects" are difficult to estimate because welfare caseloads decrease in response to improvements in the economy, which leads caseload reductions to be associated with improvements in labor market outcomes. This paper corrects for the endogeneity of caseloads by using instruments that reflect policy. The estimates suggest that welfare reform has significant spillover effects: welfare reform reduces employment of male high school dropouts, and reduces wages of single mothers and male high school dropouts.
The Effect Of Child Care Costs On The Labor Force Participation And Welfare Recipiency Of Single Mothers: Implications For Welfare Reform, Rachel Connelly, Jean Kimmel
The Effect Of Child Care Costs On The Labor Force Participation And Welfare Recipiency Of Single Mothers: Implications For Welfare Reform, Rachel Connelly, Jean Kimmel
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
This paper considers the effect of child care costs on two labor market outcomes for single mothers - whether to participate in the labor market and whether to receive welfare. Hourly child care expenditures are estimated for all women in the sample (using data drawn from the 1992 and 1993 panels of the SIPP), whether or not they are currently using nonmaternal child care. These expenditures are then included as an independent variable predicting the probability of welfare recipiency and the probability of labor force participation. Results show a substantial positive effect of child care costs on welfare recipiency, with …
The Labor Supply Effects Of Welfare Reform, Timothy J. Bartik
The Labor Supply Effects Of Welfare Reform, Timothy J. Bartik
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
Will welfare reform increase unemployment and reduce wages? The answer depends in part on how much welfare reform increases labor supply. This paper considers the labor supply effects of the welfare reforms that have occurred since 1993, when President Clinton entered office with a promise to "end welfare as we know it." The paper reviews previous estimates, and provides new estimates, of how many additional labor force participants have entered the labor force due to welfare reform. I estimate that welfare reform from 1993-96 increased the U.S. labor force by between 100,000 and 300,000 persons. Between 1996, when the major …
Short-Term Employment Persistence For Welfare Recipients: The "Effects" Of Wages, Industry, Occupation And Firm Size, Timothy J. Bartik
Short-Term Employment Persistence For Welfare Recipients: The "Effects" Of Wages, Industry, Occupation And Firm Size, Timothy J. Bartik
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
Using data from 13 years (1983-95) of the March Current Population Survey, this study examines how the types of jobs held by welfare mothers during the preceding year affects their employment and earnings at the time of the March interview. The estimates suggest that the wages of last year's job affect current employment and earnings, but the effects of wages are more modest than might be expected. The industry and occupation of last year's job make a great deal of difference, with industry being more important than occupation. The industries with the most positive effects on current employment are hospitals …
Using Performance Indicators To Improve The Effectiveness Of Welfare-To-Work Programs, Timothy J. Bartik
Using Performance Indicators To Improve The Effectiveness Of Welfare-To-Work Programs, Timothy J. Bartik
Upjohn Institute Working Papers
This paper argues that it is feasible to develop good indicators of the performance of a particular welfare-to-work program, office, or contractor. Performance indicators can motivate local offices, contractors, and staff to be more effective in achieving the program's goals. Performance indicators can provide information on what program strategies lead to the greatest long-run success. To be most useful, performance indicators must be simple and timely and control for factors other than the program's effectiveness that influence whether welfare recipients "succeed."