Premium
Effects of Earnings‐Supplement Policies on Adult Economic and Middle‐Childhood Outcomes Differ for the “Hardest to Employ”
Author(s) -
Yoshikawa Hirokazu,
Magnuson Katherine A.,
Bos Johannes M.,
Hsueh JoAnn
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8624.00619
Subject(s) - earnings , psychology , propensity score matching , quartile , demographic economics , investment (military) , percentile , family income , percentile rank , developmental psychology , economics , medicine , economic growth , finance , confidence interval , statistics , mathematics , politics , political science , law
Data from the Minnesota Family Investment Program and the New Hope demonstration were used to determine whether experimental effects of antipoverty policies differ by parents' risk for nonemployment. Using propensity score analysis, increases in employment and income were largest in the harder‐to‐employ halves of both samples. However, only children in the moderately hard‐to‐employ quartiles (50th to 75th percentile) consistently showed improvements in school and behavior outcomes. The very‐hardest‐to‐employ 25% experienced decreases in school engagement, and increases in aggressive behaviors, despite substantial increases in parental employment and income. In this group, increases in maternal depression, reductions in regular family routines, and smaller increases in job stability and center‐based child care occurred. These factors may have counteracted the potential benefits of increased income on children.