Title

Effects of Welfare Participation on Marriage

Author(s)

Julien O. Teitler Julien Teitler (Columbia University)

Nancy E. Reichman Nancy Reichman (Robert Wood Johnson Medical School)

Lenna Nepomnyaschy Lenna Nepomnyaschy (Columbia University)

Irwin Garfinkel Irwin Garfinkel (Columbia University)

Abstract

Despite interest in the potential of the welfare system as a tool to affect marriage behaviors among low-income women, little is known about how welfare participation affects decisions to marry. We employ an event history approach to examine transitions to marriage over a five-year period among mothers who have had a non-marital birth. We find that welfare participation under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF) reduces the likelihood of transitioning to marriage (hazard ratio is .67, p < .01), but only while the mother is receiving welfare. Once the mother leaves TANF, past receipt has little effect on marriage. We project that over an 18-year period, TANF participation results in at most a 4 to 5 percentage point reduction in marriage and a 16-month delay in marriage. We infer that the negative association between TANF participation and marriage reflects temporary economic disincentives or other short-term mechanisms rather than lasting effects on values and preferences.

Creation Date

2006-04

Section URL ID

CRCW

Paper Number

WP05-24-FF.pdf

URL

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.539.7497&rep=rep1&type=pdf

File Function

Jel

Keyword(s)

Suppress

false

Series

8