IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/socarx/y825p.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Earnings instability and child protection: Evidence from state administrative data

Author

Listed:
  • Cai, Julie Yixia

Abstract

Given previous inconclusive results on unemployment and involvement with the child welfare system (CPS) and the growing attention on precarious labor market conditions, this article relies on administrative data on wage and social benefits from the state of Wisconsin to investigate the relationship between employment instability and subsequent child maltreatment investigations. Using an event history approach, this study analyzes earnings instability—measured by one-time wage shocks, cumulative wage shocks, and stable earnings duration—on child maltreatment risk. It also pays attention to the role of safety net programs on buffering the risk of adverse wage shocks on child welfare involvement. I find that experiencing a negative earnings shock of 30% or more increases the likelihood of CPS involvement by approximately 18%. The effect diminishes and becomes nonsignificant when an earnings decline is compensated by benefit receipt. Each additional earnings drop is associated with a 15% greater likelihood of CPS involvement. Each consecutive quarter with stable income is associated with 5% lower probability of a CPS report. The results are more pronounced for abuse than neglect and are marginally significant for neglect reports. The findings suggest that accessing sufficient social benefits as supplemental income when negative earnings shocks occur serves to effectively buffer against the risk of child maltreatment, particularly among families with young children. This study confirms income support as an important instrument to reduce child maltreatment risk; it indicates that policies aimed at boosting income and stabilizing low-income family economics could substantially increase children’s safety and well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Cai, Julie Yixia, 2021. "Earnings instability and child protection: Evidence from state administrative data," SocArXiv y825p, Center for Open Science.
  • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:y825p
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/y825p
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/60784e6d0c8182007c50fe82/
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/y825p?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristen Shook Slack & Jane L. Holl & Bong Joo Lee & Marla McDaniel & Lisa Altenbernd & Amy Bush Stevens, 2003. "Child protective intervention in the context of welfare reform: The effects of work and welfare on maltreatment reports," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(4), pages 517-536.
    2. Alexandra Brown & David Buchholz & Matthew B. Gross & Jeff Larrimore & Ellen A. Merry & Barbara J. Robles & Maximilian D. Schmeiser & Logan Thomas, 2014. "Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2013," Reports and Studies 602, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    3. Lawrence M. Berger & Sarah A. Font & Kristen S. Slack & Jane Waldfogel, 2017. "Income and child maltreatment in unmarried families: evidence from the earned income tax credit," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1345-1372, December.
    4. Behrman, Jere R & Pollak, Robert A & Taubman, Paul, 1982. "Parental Preferences and Provision for Progeny," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(1), pages 52-73, February.
    5. Christina Paxson & Jane Waldfogel, 2002. "Work, Welfare, and Child Maltreatment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(3), pages 435-474, July.
    6. Lindo, Jason M. & Schaller, Jessamyn & Hansen, Benjamin, 2018. "Caution! Men not at work: Gender-specific labor market conditions and child maltreatment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 77-98.
    7. Raissian, Kerri M. & Bullinger, Lindsey Rose, 2017. "Money matters: Does the minimum wage affect child maltreatment rates?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 60-70.
    8. Maguire-Jack, Kathryn & Font, Sarah A., 2017. "Intersections of individual and neighborhood disadvantage: Implications for child maltreatment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 44-51.
    9. 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.
    10. Bradley L. Hardy, 2017. "Income Instability And The Response Of The Safety Net," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(2), pages 312-330, April.
    11. Lisa Gennetian & Sharon Wolf & Heather Hill & Pamela Morris, 2015. "Intrayear Household Income Dynamics and Adolescent School Behavior," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(2), pages 455-483, April.
    12. Berger, Lawrence M., 2004. "Income, family structure, and child maltreatment risk," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(8), pages 725-748, August.
    13. Schneider, William & Waldfogel, Jane & Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne, 2017. "The Great Recession and risk for child abuse and neglect," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 71-81.
    14. Cherry, Robert & Wang, Chun, 2016. "The link between male employment and child maltreatment in the U.S., 2000–2012," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 117-122.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Bullinger, Lindsey Rose & Raissian, Kerri M. & Feely, Megan & Schneider, William J., 2021. "The neglected ones: Time at home during COVID-19 and child maltreatment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    2. Monahan, Emma Kahle, 2020. "Income instability and child maltreatment: Exploring associations and mechanisms," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    3. Dan Brown & Elisabetta De Cao, 2017. "The Impact of Unemployment on Child Maltreatment in the United States," Economics Papers 2017-W04, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    4. Elisabetta De Cao, 2017. "The Impact of Unemployment on Child Maltreatment in the United States," Economics Series Working Papers 837, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    5. Malte Sandner & Stephan L. Thomsen & Libertad González Luna, 2020. "Preventing child maltreatment: Beneficial side effects of public childcare provision," Economics Working Papers 1744, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    6. Maria D. Fitzpatrick & Cassandra Benson & Samuel R. Bondurant, 2020. "Beyond Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic: The Role of Teachers and Schools in Reporting Child Maltreatment," NBER Working Papers 27033, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Sandner, Malte & Thomsen, Stephan L., 2018. "The Effects of Universal Public Childcare Provision on Cases of Child Neglect and Abuse," IZA Discussion Papers 11687, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Bullinger, Lindsey Rose & Fleckman, Julia M. & Fong, Kelley, 2021. "Proximity to SNAP-authorized retailers and child maltreatment reports," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    9. Schneider, William, 2017. "Single mothers, the role of fathers, and the risk for child maltreatment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 81-93.
    10. William Schneider & Lindsey Rose Bullinger & Kerri M. Raissian, 2022. "How does the minimum wage affect child maltreatment and parenting behaviors? An analysis of the mechanisms," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1119-1154, December.
    11. Sanders, Jane E. & Fallon, Barbara, 2018. "Child welfare involvement and academic difficulties: Characteristics of children, families, and households involved with child welfare and experiencing academic difficulties," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 98-109.
    12. Millett, Lina & Lanier, Paul & Drake, Brett, 2011. "Are economic trends associated with child maltreatment? Preliminary results from the recent recession using state level data," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1280-1287, July.
    13. Feely, Megan & Seay, Kristen D. & Loomis, Alysse M., 2019. "Harsh physical punishment as a mediator between income, re-reports and out-of-home placement in a child protective services-involved population," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 70-78.
    14. Louis‐Philippe Beland & Jason Huh & Dongwoo Kim, 2021. "The effect of Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansions on foster care admissions," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(11), pages 2943-2951, November.
    15. Gassman-Pines, Anna & Bellows, Laura & Copeland, William E. & Hoyle, Rick H. & Odgers, Candice L., 2023. "Day-to-day variation in adolescent food insecurity," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    16. Beimers, David & Coulton, Claudia J., 2011. "Do employment and type of exit influence child maltreatment among families leaving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1112-1119, July.
    17. Raissian, Kerri M. & Bullinger, Lindsey Rose, 2017. "Money matters: Does the minimum wage affect child maltreatment rates?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 60-70.
    18. Louis-Philippe Beland & Jason Huh & Dongwoo Kim, 2021. "The Effect of ACA Medicaid Expansions on Foster Care Admissions," Carleton Economic Papers 21-07, Carleton University, Department of Economics.
    19. Lawrence M. Berger & Sarah A. Font & Kristen S. Slack & Jane Waldfogel, 2017. "Income and child maltreatment in unmarried families: evidence from the earned income tax credit," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1345-1372, December.
    20. Reiko Boyd & Abigail Williams-Butler & Katarina Ploch & Kristen Slack, 2023. "Multidimensional Aspects of Social Networks: Implications for CPS Recurrence," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, April.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:osf:socarx:y825p. 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: OSF (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://arabixiv.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.