Introduction: Public Policy and Family Economics in US History

Megan McDonald Way ()
Additional contact information
Megan McDonald Way: Babson College

Chapter Chapter 1 in Family Economics and Public Policy, 1800s–Present, 2018, pp 1-21 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract This chapter provides an introduction to the types of economic decisions that have challenged US families throughout our history and how public policy creates incentives for families to allocate their resources in ways that meet the country’s economic needs by affecting economic parameters such as prices, income constraints, property rights, and preferences. It looks closely at how three types of policies affected families’ resource allocation decisions: child labor laws and compulsory schooling, the Homestead Act of 1862, and married women’s property laws which changed the coverture laws the United States had adopted from the common law of England. By exploring how these policies affected family economic decision-making, it previews the economics and policies that will be presented in later chapters.

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

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:pal:psichp:978-1-137-43963-5_1

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9781137439635

DOI: 10.1057/978-1-137-43963-5_1

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Studies in American Economic History from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().