Taking Chances: The Effect of Growing Up on Welfare on the Risky Behavior of Young People

Deborah Cobb-Clark, Christopher Ryan and Anastasia Sartbayeva ()
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Anastasia Sartbayeva: Australian National University

No 4095, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We analyze the effect of growing up on welfare on young people's involvement in a variety of social and health risks. Young people in welfare families are much more likely to take both social and health risks. Much of the apparent link between family welfare history and risk taking disappears, however, once we account for family structure and mothers' decisions regarding their own risk taking and investment in their children. Interestingly, we find no significant effect of socio-economic status per se. Overall, we find no evidence that growing up on welfare causes young people to engage in risky behavior.

Keywords: youths; socio-economic disadvantage; welfare; risky behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I38 J13 J18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2009-03
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published - published in: Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2012, 114 (3), 729–755

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Working Paper: Taking Chances: The Effect of Growing Up on Welfare on the Risky Behaviour of Young People (2009)
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