IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/uwp/jhriss/v39y2004i1p108-134.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Child Support Enforcement and Welfare Caseloads

Author

Listed:
  • Chien-Chung Huang
  • Irwin Garfinkel
  • Jane Waldfogel

Abstract

Although there is a large body of research devoted to the issue of the determinants of welfare caseloads, none of these studies has incorporated the effects of child support enforcement (CSE). We employ annual state panel data from 1980 to 1999 and find that states with more effective CSE have significantly lower welfare caseloads. The improvement in CSE over this period reduces welfare caseloads by about 9 percent in 1999. We also discover that individual child support variables may not be good indicators of state CSE vigor and that a CSE index that includes multiple dimensions of CSE is more likely to capture the multiplicative functions of CSE.

Suggested Citation

  • Chien-Chung Huang & Irwin Garfinkel & Jane Waldfogel, 2004. "Child Support Enforcement and Welfare Caseloads," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:39:y:2004:i:1:p108-134
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://jhr.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/XXXIX/1/108
    Download Restriction: A subscripton is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rebecca M. Blank, 2001. "What Causes Public Assistance Caseloads to Grow?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(1), pages 85-118.
    2. Mary Jo Bane & David T. Ellwood, 1986. "Slipping into and out of Poverty: The Dynamics of Spells," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 21(1), pages 1-23.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daniel I. Tannenbaum, 2020. "The Effect of Child Support on Selection into Marriage and Fertility," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(2), pages 611-652.
    2. Ronald B. Mincy & Elia De la Cruz Toledo, 2014. "Unemployment and Child Support Compliance Through the Great Recession," Working Papers 14-01-ff, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    3. Hayashi, Masayoshi, 2014. "Forecasting welfare caseloads: The case of the Japanese public assistance program," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 105-114.
    4. repec:pri:crcwel:wp05-24-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Pirog, Maureen & Gerrish, Ed, 2015. "Impact of the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act on child support order establishment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 104-117.
    6. Urvi Neelakantan, 2009. "The impact of changes in child support policy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 22(3), pages 641-663, July.
    7. repec:pri:crcwel:wp05-08-ff-fertig is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Lindsey Rose Bullinger, 2021. "Child Support and the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid Expansions," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 42-77, January.
    9. Angela R. Fertig & Irwin Garfinkel & Sara S. McLanahan, 2005. "The Effect of Child Support Enforcement on Bagraining Power Among Married and Cohabiting Couples," Working Papers 939, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    10. Samara Gunter, 2013. "Effects of child support pass-through and disregard policies on in-kind child support," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 193-209, June.
    11. Maureen A. Pirog & Kathleen M. Ziol-Guest, 2006. "Child support enforcement: Programs and policies, impacts and questions," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(4), pages 943-990.
    12. Huang, Chien-Chung & Han, Ke-Qing, 2012. "Child support enforcement in the United States: Has policy made a difference?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 622-627.
    13. Lauren M. Rich & Irwin Garfinkel & Qin Gao, 2007. "Child support enforcement policy and unmarried fathers' employment in the underground and regular economies," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 791-810.
    14. Huang, Chien-Chung & Edwards, Richard L., 2009. "The relationship between state efforts and child support performance," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 243-248, February.
    15. Masayoshi Hayashi, 2017. "Do Central Grants Affect Welfare Caseloads? Evidence from Public Assistance in Japan," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1064, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    16. Julien O. Teitler & Nancy E. Reichman & Lenna Nepomnyaschy & Irwin Garfinkel, 2006. "Effects of Welfare Participation on Marriage," Working Papers 933, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shao-Hsun Keng & Steven B. Garasky & Helen H. Jensen, 1999. "Innovation at the State Level: Initial Effects of Welfare Reform in Iowa," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 99-wp232, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    2. Ann E. Horvath-Rose & H. Elizabeth Peters, 2000. "Welfare Waivers and Non-Marital Childbearing," JCPR Working Papers 128, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    3. Colleen Heflin, 2016. "Family Instability and Material Hardship: Results from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 359-372, September.
    4. Axelsen, Dan & Snarr, Hal W., 2006. "Analyzing Washington state's welfare program design, workfirst," MPRA Paper 37248, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Gordon Dahl, 2010. "Early teen marriage and future poverty," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(3), pages 689-718, August.
    6. Hayashi, Masayoshi, 2014. "Forecasting welfare caseloads: The case of the Japanese public assistance program," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 105-114.
    7. Zachary Van Winkle & Emanuela Struffolino, 2018. "When working isn’t enough: Family demographic processes and in-work poverty across the life course in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(12), pages 365-380.
    8. Swann Christopher A, 2010. "WIC Eligibility and Participation: The Roles of Changing Policies, Economic Conditions, and Demographics," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-37, March.
    9. Duclos, Jean-Yves & Araar, Abdelkrim & Giles, John, 2010. "Chronic and transient poverty: Measurement and estimation, with evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 266-277, March.
    10. Adina Titei, 2020. "Measuring the Future Potential of a Country in Terms of Human Capital," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 551-554, December.
    11. Gundersen, Craig & Jolliffe, Dean & Tiehen, Laura, 2009. "The challenge of program evaluation: When increasing program participation decreases the relative well-being of participants," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 367-376, August.
    12. Marianne P. Bitler & Hilary W. Hoynes, 2010. "The state of the safety net in the post-welfare reform era," Working Paper Series 2010-31, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    13. Adam Martin & Matias Petersen, 2019. "Poverty Alleviation as an Economic Problem," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 43(1), pages 205-221.
    14. John M. Fitzgerald & David Ribar, 2001. "The Impact of Welfare Waivers on Female Headship Decisions," JCPR Working Papers 247, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    15. Caroline Dewilde, 2008. "Individual and institutional determinants of multidimensional poverty: A European comparison," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 86(2), pages 233-256, April.
    16. Lori J. Curtis & Kate Rybczynski, 2014. "Exiting Poverty: Does Sex Matter?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 40(2), pages 126-142, June.
    17. Robert Moffitt, 1999. "Explaining Welfare Reform: Public Choice and the Labor Market," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 6(3), pages 289-315, August.
    18. Robert Haveman & Barbara Wolfe, 2000. "Errata," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 7(3), pages 369-371, May.
    19. Asena Caner & Ed Wolff, 2002. "Asset Poverty in the United States, 1984-1999: Evidence from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics," Microeconomics 0209002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Arne Bigsten & Abebe Shimeles, 2011. "The persistence of urban poverty in Ethiopia: a tale of two measurements," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(9), pages 835-839.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:39:y:2004:i:1:p108-134. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://jhr.uwpress.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.