The Impact of Welfare Benefits on the Conjugal Status of Single Mothers in Canada: Estimates from a Hazard Model

Pierre Lefebvre and Philip Merrigan

Journal of Human Resources, 1998, vol. 33, issue 3, 742-757

Abstract: This paper focuses on the determinants of the likelihood of a remarriage (marriage) for female heads with children. Using retrospective data from Statistics Canada's 1990 Family History Survey, the study attempts to identify which socioeconomic characteristics of single mothers are conducive to conjugal union formation (formal or informal). Particular attention is given to external time-varying economic covariates, so as to disentangle the impact they exert on single mothers' propensity to start living with a (new) partner. The empirical analysis is carried out using a proportional hazards model which permits the estimation of the effects of various covariates on the hazard of exiting single parenthood. The most striking result is the strong effect of provincial welfare benefits on conjugal union formation. However, the analysis reveals that single motherhood, far from representing a final state, remains a transitory situation for a majority of women.

Date: 1998
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/146340
A subscription is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:33:y:1998:i:3:p:742-757

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Human Resources from University of Wisconsin Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().