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Does AFDC‐up encourage two‐parent families?
Author(s) -
Winkler Anne E.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of policy analysis and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.898
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1520-6688
pISSN - 0276-8739
DOI - 10.2307/3325430
Subject(s) - aid to families with dependent children , demographic economics , economics , labour economics , psychology , medicaid , economic growth , health care
Effective October 1990, the Family Support Act (FSA) of 1988 extended the previously state‐optional AFDC‐Unemployed Parent (UP) program to all states. This policy was undertaken in an effort to reduce the two‐parent penalty of the AFDC program, but little is actually known about UP and its influence on family structure. This study clarifies what is meant by “two‐parent family” in the federal legislation and provides new evidence on AFDC's incentive effects. The empirical analysis makes use of the cross‐state variation in the generosity of AFDC benefits and the presence (or absence) of AFDC‐UP before the FSA of 1988. Specifically, these state‐level data are appended to data from the 1987 National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). A real advantage of the NSFH is that it allows for the identification of those truly eligible for the UP program‐married and unmarried couples who have an “in‐common” dependent child. The major empirical finding is that contrary to the hopes of Congress, a state's provision of a UP program is not found to encourage two‐parent families.