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Intergenerational Effects of Welfare Reform on Educational Attainment

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  • Amalia R. Miller
  • Lei Zhang

Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of the fundamental welfare reforms of the 1990s on the educational attainment of children in low-income families. Using administrative records and individual survey data spanning the early 1990s to the mid-2000s, we find large positive effects of welfare reform: income gaps in school enrollment and dropout rates narrow by more than 20 percent. Unlike the significant and growing relative gains in the years following state welfare reforms, we find no evidence of relative gains for low-income adolescents in the years preceding the reforms. These findings are robust under alternative definitions of the treatment and control groups and after controlling for contemporaneous economic and policy changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Amalia R. Miller & Lei Zhang, 2012. "Intergenerational Effects of Welfare Reform on Educational Attainment," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(2), pages 437-476.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:doi:10.1086/663348
    DOI: 10.1086/663348
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    Cited by:

    1. Dhaval M. Dave & Hope Corman & Ariel Kalil & Ofira Schwartz-Soicher & Nancy Reichman, 2019. "Intergenerational Effects of Welfare Reform: Adolescent Delinquent and Risky Behaviors," NBER Working Papers 25527, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Løken, Katrine V. & Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Holm Reiso, Katrine, 2018. "Single mothers and their children: Evaluating a work-encouraging welfare reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 1-20.
    3. Ren Mu & Yang Du, 2017. "Pension Coverage for Parents and Educational Investment in Children: Evidence from Urban China," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 31(2), pages 483-503.
    4. Dhaval Dave & Hope Corman & Ariel Kalil & Ofira Schwartz-Soicher & Nancy E. Reichman, 2019. "Effects of Maternal Work Incentives on Adolescent Social Behaviors," Working Papers 2019-026, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    5. Bubonya, Melisa & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., 2021. "Pathways of Disadvantage: Unpacking the Intergenerational Correlation in Welfare," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Corman, Hope & Dave, Dhaval & Kalil, Ariel & Reichman, Nancy E., 2017. "Effects of maternal work incentives on youth crime," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 128-144.
    7. Corman, Hope & Dave, Dhaval & Kalil, Ariel & Reichman, Nancy E., 2018. "Reprint of: Effects of maternal work incentives on youth crime," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 193-209.

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