Welfare Effects on the Marital Decisions of Never-Married Mothers

The economic theory of marriage suggests that more generous welfare benefits should serve to reduce the probability of marriage among mothers who have given birth out of wedlock. This relationship is explored using data on never-married mothers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Only very...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of human resources 2000, Vol.35 (1), p.116-142
Main Author: Blackburn, McKinley L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Black people
Children
Coefficients
Human resources
Marriage
Mothers
One-parent families
Probability
Public assistance programs
Single status
Single women
Social security
Unmarried mothers
Variable coefficients
Welfare economics
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Summary:The economic theory of marriage suggests that more generous welfare benefits should serve to reduce the probability of marriage among mothers who have given birth out of wedlock. This relationship is explored using data on never-married mothers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Only very limited evidence indicates that higher welfare payments lower the probability of marriage for nonblack never-married mothers. For black never-married mothers, the results suggest that higher benefits are associated with higher marriage rates.
ISSN:0022-166X
1548-8004
DOI:10.2307/146358