Capping Kids: The Family Cap and Nonmarital Childbearing

Abstract

Welfare reform, Nonmarital childbearing, Family cap,

State Welfare Policies and Children’s Living Arrangements

“…Several studies find no association between the family cap policy and nonmarital births (Dyer and Fairlie 2004;Joyce et al 2004;Ryan, Manlove, and Hofferth 2006). Others (Horvath-Rose and Peters 2001;Horvath-Rose, Peters, and Sabia 2008) find evidence that the family cap is associated with a decline in nonmarital births.…”

“…For example, some distinguish between the effects of an income disregard waiver and those of a family cap waiver (see, e.g., Fitzgerald and Ribar 2004b). Very few studies examine specific dimensions of state policies since the implementation of TANF (exceptions are Acs andNelson 2004 andHorvath-Rose et al 2008). However, as noted earlier, studies run into identification problems in using a single TANF dummy, as all states implemented TANF over a period of a year and a half.…”

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

“…They found that stricter child support enforcement led to a 6-9 percent reduction in fertility, and welfare benefit declines to a 2-4 percent reduction. Joyce, et al (2004), Kearney (2004), andHorvath-Rose, et al (2008) focused on the specific role that family caps played on nonmarital childbearing. Joyce, et al employed a tripledifference estimator to estimate the effect of family caps on birth rates and abortion rates.…”

Natalist Policies in the United States

“…Finally, Horvath‐Rose, Peters, and Sabia () provide evidence that the adoption of family caps is not exogenous, which raises questions about the fundamental identifying assumptions of the models used in the previously discussed papers. This paper finds that while family caps are associated with a decrease in nonmarital birthrates (and the NMBR), the caps are associated with an increase in marital birthrates, a group that should be largely unresponsive to the policy change .…”