Testing the Economic Independence Hypothesis: The Effect of an Exogenous Increase in Child Support on Subsequent Marriage and Cohabitation

Cancian, Maria; Meyer, Daniel R.

doi:10.1007/s13524-014-0295-8

Cited by 25 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Cancian et al (2011), analyzing a different sample (those who had a nonmarital first birth), and using an event history method, show that when the father of the first nonmarital child pays more support, the mothers are more likely to have another nonmarital birth with a new parental partner. Moreover, an experimental analysis focused on living arrangements rather than fertility (Cancian & Meyer, 2014), shows that those who should receive more child support income are less likely to be cohabiting with a nonfather. This is consistent with the possibility that those who should receive more child support income will be more likely to have a new nonmarital birth if they are cohabiting with a new partner.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Support and Subsequent Nonmarital Fertility With a New Partner

Kim¹,

Cancian

Meyer

2016

Journal of Family Issues

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When a parent has another child with a new partner, a significant effect on parents and children is likely, making factors associated with multiple-partner fertility of interest to policy makers. For single mothers, one potential policyrelevant factor influencing their subsequent fertility with a new partner is child support income. However, the direction and magnitude of any effect is not well-established. This study documents the simple negative relationship between child support and nonmarital fertility with a new partner in our sample of low-income unmarried mothers. We then take advantage of a policy experiment that resulted in randomly assigned differences in child support income to investigate its effects. We find no support for a negative causal relationship between child support receipt and nonmarital fertility with a new partner, instead finding suggestive evidence that mothers with more child support income are slightly more likely to have a subsequent nonmarital birth with a new partner.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Support and Subsequent Nonmarital Fertility With a New Partner

Kim¹,

Cancian

Meyer

2016

Journal of Family Issues

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“…In our case, the new parental leave benefit increased net disposable household income in the first year after childbirth by about 20 percent on average (Wrohlich et al, 2012). The economic independence hypothesis (Cancian and Meyer 2014) posits that additional income reduces women's need to pool resources and thus increases the probability of single motherhood.…”

Section: Mechanisms and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This tax splitting advantage is largest for couples where one spouse earns the total income. 10 Importantly, unlike some US welfare programs, being married is not a precondition for receiving the parental leave benefit (Cancian and Meyer 2014). Similarly, work requirements and financial sanctions, which feature in many US welfare reforms and which can have direct effects on living arrangements, do not exist in the German paid parental leave program.…”

Section: Empirical Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The German reform we analyze replaced a means-tested benefit with a more generous universal transfer that was paid out for a shorter period. Whereas the reform's effects on maternal labor supply and family income are 2 For additional contributions see also Ellwood (2000), Schoeni and Blank (2000), Cancian and Meyer (2014). 3 well-documented (see Section 2 for an overview), we still know little about its potential impact on families' living arrangements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Paid parental leave and families’ living arrangements

2018

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may Paid Parental Leave and Families' Living Arrangements MAY 2018Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but IZA takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The IZA Institute of Labor Economics is an independent economic research institute that conducts research in labor economics and offers evidence-based policy advice on labor market issues. Supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation, IZA runs the world's largest network of economists, whose research aims to provide answers to the global labor market challenges of our time. Our key objective is to build bridges between academic research, policymakers and society. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author.Schaumburg-Lippe-Straße 5-9 53113 Bonn, Germany arrangements. The German reform we examine replaced a means-tested benefit with a universal transfer paid out for a shorter period. Combining a regression discontinuity with a difference-in-differences design, we find that the reform increased the probability that a newborn lives with non-married cohabiting parents. This effect results from a reduced risk of single parenthood among women who gained from the reform. We reject the economic independence hypothesis and argue that the reform effects for those who benefited from the reform are consistent with hypotheses related to the improved financial situation of new mothers after the reform and increased paternal involvement in childcare. Their results are inconsistent. For Sweden, Avdic and Karimi (forthcoming) examine the effect of introducing a daddy month on marital stability and find that the reform increased the risk of marital separation three years after childbirth by about eight percent. For Iceland, Olafsson and Steingrimsdottir (2016) show that extending parental leave by up to three months that are reserved for fathers decreased the risk of divorce within ten years after childbirth.Only a few studies examine the effects of public policies on children's living arrangements. For instance, Acs and Nelson (2004) investigate the effect of specific elements of TANF on children's and wome...

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“…Together, these mechanisms may increase the probability of a new partnership for a mother who experiences a father’s imprisonment. Although relationship breakups via partner imprisonment do not always result in the formation of new romantic partnerships, the motivation to pursue love, companionship, economic support, and sex often pushes individuals to establish a new partnership (Cancian and Meyer 2014; Siennick et al 2014). …”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fathers’ Imprisonment and Mothers’ Multiple-Partner Fertility

2016

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We consider the intersection between two striking U.S. trends: dramatic increases in the imprisonment of fathers and increases in the proportion of mothers who have children with more than one partner (multiple-partner fertility, or MPF). Using matched longitudinal administrative data that provide unusually comprehensive and accurate information about the occurrence and timing of imprisonment, fertility, and MPF for the population of the state of Wisconsin, we consider the relationship between paternal imprisonment and MPF among unwed mothers. Employing discrete-time event history analysis with multinomial logistic regression, we model the occurrence and timing of the mother’s second birth, distinguishing between a birth with the same father and a birth with a different father, and distinguishing between current imprisonment and a history of imprisonment. We find that current imprisonment is associated with an increased likelihood of MPF and a decreased likelihood of fertility with the same father (compared with no additional birth) and that a history of imprisonment is associated with increased MPF in some models but not in our preferred model. To control for unobserved heterogeneity among mothers and assess the evidence of a causal effect of fathers’ imprisonment, we also employ the case-time-control method, a fixed-effects method for the analysis of nonrepeated events. Results suggest that fathers’ current imprisonment may increase mothers’ MPF. Policy implications are discussed.

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Testing the Economic Independence Hypothesis: The Effect of an Exogenous Increase in Child Support on Subsequent Marriage and Cohabitation

Cited by 25 publications

References 63 publications

Child Support and Subsequent Nonmarital Fertility With a New Partner

Child Support and Subsequent Nonmarital Fertility With a New Partner

Paid parental leave and families’ living arrangements

Fathers’ Imprisonment and Mothers’ Multiple-Partner Fertility

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