Berger, Lawrence Marc
Cancian, Maria
Meyer, Daniel R.
Maternal Re-Partnering and New-Partner Fertility: Associations with Nonresident Father Investments in Children
Children and Youth Services Review 34,2 (February 2012): 426-436.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740911004245
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Child Support; Childhood Residence; Fathers and Children; Fathers, Absence; Fathers, Presence; Marital Stability; Parental Investments; Parental Marital Status; Parents, Non-Custodial; Remarriage;

Research suggests that paternal re-partnering and new-partner fertility are associated with decreased nonresident father investments in children. Few studies, however, have examined the influence of maternal re-partnering and new-partner births on nonresident father investments. We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine associations of maternal re-partnering (through cohabitation or marriage with a new partner) and new-partner births with nonresident father visitation and child support payments. Results suggest that maternal re-partnering is associated with a decrease in both yearly father-child contact and child support received by the mother. New-partner fertility for mothers who are co-residing with a partner is associated with an additional decrease in monthly father-child contact, but does not have an additional influence on yearly father-child contact or child support receipt.

Cancian, Maria
Haveman, Robert H.
Kaplan, Thomas
Meyer, Daniel R.
Wolfe, Barbara L.
Work, Earnings and Well-Being After Welfare
In: Economic Conditions and Welfare Reform. S. Danziger, ed. Kalamazoo, MI: W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 1999.
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Keyword(s): Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); Earnings; Labor Market Outcomes; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Welfare; Well-Being;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In Chapter 6, Maria Cancian and her colleagues review evidence from several data sources about the post-welfare work effort and the economic well-being of former recipients. Although most former recipients can find some work, most cannot get and keep full-time, year-round work. In their analysis of pre-TANF data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, in each of the five years after exit, about two-thirds worked. However, in any of these years, only about one-sixth to about one-quarter worked full-time, full-year. The samewas true in the post-TANF Wisconsin administrative data they analyze; during the first year after leaving the rolls, about two-thirds of leavers worked. They also found that most former recipients (at least in the first few years) will earn relatively low wages, between $6.50 and $7.50 per hour. This is not surprising, given that welfare recipients have low skills and that the real wages of less-skilled workers have fallen dramatically over the past quarter century and have not increased much during the current economic boom.

This finding about the wage prospects of less-skilled workers is not new. It was the motivation for the proposal of the first Clinton administration "to make work pay and end welfare as we know it." This suggests that former welfare recipients will continue to need government income supplements if they are to support their family at incomes above the poverty line. The expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has a very important role here, as does post-welfare access to subsidized child care, health care, and food stamps. As the Cancian et al. chapter cautions, "Even consistent work may not suffice for self-support if wages are low . . . The relatively modest growth in wages for this sample is inconsistent with the suggestion that even if former welfare recipients start in low-paying jobs, they will soon move on to jobs that pay wages that can support a family above the poverty line." The good new s in Wisconsin for the sample of families that had left the welfare rolls is that twice as many of them were above the poverty line relative to those remaining on the rolls. Yet, only 27 percent of those who left cash assistance and did not return escaped poverty, and only about one-third of all leavers obtained the income level they received just before they left welfare.

An additional caveat is in order. The first wave of data from a panel study of welfare recipients being conducted at the University of Michigan 2 shows that women remaining on welfare have characteristics, not evaluated in most studies of recipients, that make their labor market prospects more problematic than those of all single mothers and even those of recipients who have already left the rolls. The study examined 14 potential barriers to employment, including major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, maternal health, child health, labor market skills, perceived experiences of discrimination, and several standard human capital measures. It found that about 75 percent of single mothers who received cash welfare in February 1997 and had zero or one of these barriers were working in Fall 1997, whereas only about 40 percent of those with four or more barriers were working. As welfare caseloads continue to decline, this suggests that the recipients who remain will be the least employable.

Cancian, Maria
Haveman, Robert H.
Kaplan, Thomas
Meyer, Daniel R.
Wolfe, Barbara L.
Work, Earnings, and Well-Being after Welfare: What Do We Know?
JCPR Working Paper 73, Joint Center for Poverty Research, Northwestern University/University of Chicago, February 1999.
Also: http://ideas.repec.org/p/wop/jopovw/73.html
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Joint Center for Poverty Research
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Data Quality/Consistency; Economic Well-Being; Parents, Single; Welfare;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper was prepared for the "Welfare Reform and the Macro-Economy" conference in Washington DC, November 19-20, 1998. The rapid reduction in Aid to Families with Dependent Children caseloads during its last two years, and the continued decline of participation following its replacement by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, raise the question of how families who no longer receive cash assistance are faring. What are their economic circumstances? Are they better off after leaving the program than they were as recipients? How many of the mothers are working, and how much do they earn? Do they and their families continue to rely on other, in-kind assistance programs? If so, which ones? In this paper, we present evidence on the economic fate of single mothers who have left the welfare rolls. We summarize the results of earlier studies and then present findings from three approaches to this topic, one using national survey data, another using administrative data, and a few recent studies that use geographically targeted surveys. We conclude that reliance on administrative data provides the best option for evaluating the impacts of reform in the near future. We also recognize the limitations of these data and the need for survey data to supplement their findings.

Cancian, Maria
Haveman, Robert H.
Kaplan, Thomas
Meyer, Daniel R.
Wolfe, Barbara L.
Work, Earnings, and Well-Being after Welfare: What Do We Know?
Focus 20,2 (Spring 1999): 22-25.
Also: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/focus.htm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), University of Wisconsin - Madison
Keyword(s): Employment, History; Family Income; State Welfare; Welfare; Well-Being; Women;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Researchers who wish to examine the economic well-being of those who have left welfare need accurate data on women's circumstances while on welfare and measures of individual and family well-being over an extended period afterward. The most likely sources of this information are state administrative records, national longitudinal survey data, and targeted surveys. None provides a fully satisfactory solution. IRP researchers have conducted two studies of the economic well-being and employment histories of women who have left welfare. In one, they used the NLSY, and in the other, Wisconsin state administrative data. In this article, we briefly report the findings from these studies, illustrate the problems inherent in each approach, and compare their findings with studies of postwelfare experiences in other states.

Cancian, Maria
Meyer, Daniel R.
Work After Welfare: Women's Work Effort, Occupation, and Economic Well-Being
Social Work Research 24,2 (June 2000): 69-86.
Also: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/nasw/swr/2000/00000024/00000002/art00002
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
Keyword(s): Employment; Welfare; Work History; Work Hours;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The writers conducted a study to examine the theory that employment, even in low-paid jobs, will lead to economic self-sufficiency. Using data drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, they analyze the relationship between work history and economic success during the first five years after women go off welfare. They find that although, over time, median wages and hours worked increased and earnings generally improved, even by the fifth year, only a quarter of the women consistently worked full-time. They conclude that although current welfare programs focus on moving women into the workplace quickly, employment itself seems not to be a guarantee of economic success. Copyright: Database Producer Copyright (c) the H.W. Wilson Company. All rights reserved.

Meyer, Daniel R.
Cancian, Maria
Ten Years Later: Economic Well-Being among Those Who Left Welfare
Journal of Applied Social Sciences 25,1 (Fall-Winter 2000-01): 13-30
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Economic Well-Being; Income Level; Poverty; Welfare;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth from 1979 through 1996, we describe the economic well-being of young single mothers who exited from the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) welfare program and examine outcomes over the ten years following their exit. We find some women achieve moderate levels of economic success: for example, one-quarter of the exiters were never poor or poor in only one of the first ten years post-welfare. Moreover, many results point to improvements in economic status over time. On the other hand, a substantial number of these women and their families remain economically vulnerable, with poverty rates particularly high when one examines only a woman's own income. Another troubling sign is that income growth and the decline in poverty are concentrated in the early years, with less improvement in economic status in the later years. Our results highlight that leaving welfare is not synonymous with leaving poverty.

Meyer, Daniel R.
Cancian, Maria
Economic Well-Being Following an Exit from Aid to Families with Dependent Children
Journal of Marriage and Family 60,2 (May 1998): 479-492.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/353863
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Council on Family Relations
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Economic Well-Being; Employment; Marital Status; Poverty; Welfare; Well-Being; Women;

Much previous research has focused on how long families receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) before leaving the program and whether and when they return to the program following an exit. Few quantitative studies have looked at broader indicators of the economic well-being of those who have exited AFDC. We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to trace poverty status and welfare use in the 5 years following an exit from AFDC. We find substantial diversity in economic well-being. Women who were working when they exited from AFDC do better, and, to a lesser extent, so do those who were married or had a partner when they exited. Higher levels of success are achieved by women with higher earning potential, including those with higher education and those with fewer children or older children. Although same women achieve modest levels of economic success, 41% remain poor even 5 years after an exit from AFDC. Our results highlight the distinction between leaving welfare and leaving poverty and suggest that welfare reforms targeted at reducing caseloads may do relatively little to enhance broader measures of economic success.

Meyer, Daniel R.
Cancian, Maria
Life After Welfare: The Economic Well-Being of Women and Children Following An Exit From AFDC
Discussion Paper No. 1101-96, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1996.
Also: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), University of Wisconsin - Madison
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Children, Well-Being; Earnings; Economic Well-Being; Family Background; Poverty; Transfers, Financial; Welfare;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Much previous research has focused on the length of welfare spells and returns to welfare following an exit. Few quantitative studies have looked at broader indicators of the economic well-being of those who have exited AFDC. In this paper we use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NSLY) to trace welfare use, poverty status, and primary sources of income in the years following an exit from welfare. We find that while there is a trend toward improved economic status over time, 40 percent of women remain poor five years after exit. Women with more advantaged family backgrounds, those with fewer children, or with more education at exit are more likely to consistently escape poverty. Median income increases over the first five years from about $10,500 to about $15,000 (1992 dollars). Own earnings are the most prevalent income source, followed by spouse's earnings, and mean-tested transfers.

Meyer, Daniel R.
Cancian, Maria
Life After Welfare: A Recent Study Looks at the Economic Well-Being of Women and Children Following An Exit from AFDC
Public Welfare 56 (1996): 25-29.
Also: http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp110196.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Public Welfare Association
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Poverty; Transfers, Financial; Welfare;

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Much previous research has focused on the length of welfare spells and returns to welfare following an exit. Few quantitative studies have looked at broader indicators of the economic well-being of those who have exited AFDC. In this paper we use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NSLY) to trace welfare use, poverty status, and primary sources of income in the five years following an exit from welfare. We find that while there is a trend toward improved economic status over time, 40 percent of women remain poor five years after exit. Women with more advantaged family backgrounds, those with fewer children, or with more education at exit are more likely to consistently escape poverty. Median income increases over the first five years from about $10,500 to about $15,000 (1992 dollars). Own earnings are the most prevalent income source, followed by spouse's earnings, and mean-tested transfers.