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The Dynamics of Welfare Participation among Women Who Experienced Teenage Motherhood in Australia *
Author(s) -
JEON SUNGHEE,
KALB GUYONNE,
VU HA
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
economic record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1475-4932
pISSN - 0013-0249
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2010.00685.x
Subject(s) - counterfactual thinking , receipt , welfare , welfare dependency , probit model , probit , demographic economics , economics , demography , psychology , social psychology , sociology , econometrics , market economy , accounting
We examine whether the factors that determine the welfare participation of women who experienced teenage motherhood differ from those determining the welfare participation of women whose first birth was at an older age. Using a dynamic random effects probit model, we find evidence of state dependence in welfare participation for all mothers, but it is relatively stronger for women who experienced teenage childbearing. In addition, counterfactual decomposition shows that, conditional on welfare receipt, differences in the characteristics of the two groups of mothers explain a larger proportion of the differences in their welfare dependency relative to differences in their behaviour.