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Effects of Welfare Participation on Marriage
Author(s) -
Teitler Julien O.,
Reichman Nancy E.,
Nepomnyaschy Lenna,
Garfinkel Irwin
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00641.x
Subject(s) - welfare , receipt , cohabitation , premise , demographic economics , welfare reform , single mothers , fragile families and child wellbeing study , economics , psychology , demography , sociology , political science , developmental psychology , linguistics , philosophy , accounting , law , market economy
We investigated the widely held premise that welfare participation causes women to refrain from marriage. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,219), we employed an event history approach to study transitions to marriage among mothers who have had a nonmarital birth. We found that welfare participation reduces the likelihood of transitioning to marriage (hazard ratio is 0.67, p <.01), but only while the mother is receiving benefits. Once the mother leaves welfare, past receipt has little effect on marriage. We infer that the negative association between welfare participation and subsequent marriage reflects temporary economic disincentives rather than an erosion of values.