Unintended Consequences of Welfare Cuts on Children and Adolescents

Christian Dustmann, Rasmus Landersø and Lars Højsgaard Andersen
Additional contact information
Lars Højsgaard Andersen: Rockwool Foundation Research Unit

No 17244, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper studies the effects of a large welfare benefit reduction on the children in the affected families. The welfare cut targeted adult refugees who received residency in Denmark, and it reduced their disposable income by 30 percent on average over the first five years. We show that children exposed to the welfare cut during preschool and school-age obtained lower GPAs, experienced reduced well-being and overall education levels, and suffered lower employment and earnings as adults. Children in their teens at exposure faced large increases in conviction probabilities for violent and property crimes.

Keywords: crime; welfare state; social assistance; education; inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 I30 J10 K14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 62 pages
Date: 2024-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-law
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Forthcoming - revised version forthcoming in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics

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Related works:
Journal Article: Unintended Consequences of Welfare Cuts on Children and Adolescents (2024)
Working Paper: Unintended Consequences of Welfare Cuts on Children and Adolescents (2024)
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