The Quantity and Quality Adjustment of Births when Having More is Not Subsidized: the Effect of the TANF Family Cap on Fertility and Birth Weight

Ho-Po Crystal Wong
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Ho-Po Crystal Wong: West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics

No 15-04, Working Papers from Department of Economics, West Virginia University

Abstract: I examine whether the family cap policy that reduces or eliminates incremental welfare benefits for additional births born to mothers already on welfare would affect both the quantity and quality of births in terms of birth weight. I find that the family cap produces very pronounced effect on reducing out of wedlock birth and low birth weight rates among teenagers. The evidence suggests that the family cap policy might not just produce a deterrent effect on non-marital childbearing but also a quality effect on birth: those births that actually occur are endowed with better health in terms of birth weight.

Keywords: TANF; AFDC; family cap; quantity and quality of children; fertility; non-marital birth; birth weight (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 J12 J16 J18 K36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2015-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
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