Teen Nonmarital Childbearing and Welfare: The Gap Between Research and Political Discourse
- 1 October 1996
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Social Issues
- Vol. 52 (3) , 71-90
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1996.tb01580.x
Abstract
Contemporary welfare reform efforts frequently include provisions intended to alter current policies that are presumed to provide incentives for out‐of‐wedlock childbearing, especially for adolescents. This article examines the political debate around “welfare incentive effects.” The history of the debate is briefly presented, followed by an introduction to both the federal cash welfare program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and the trends in both welfare use and adolescent pregnancy and nonmarital childbearing. Social science research examining the question of whether welfare is implicated as a significant cause of teen nonmarital childbearing is presented and discussed in light of the current policy debates.Keywords
This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Best Intentions: Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of Children and FamiliesJournal of Public Health Policy, 1998
- Adolescent Premarital Childbearing: Do Economic Incentives Matter?Journal of Labor Economics, 1995
- Economic Deprivation and Early Childhood DevelopmentChild Development, 1994
- Economic Deprivation and Early Childhood DevelopmentChild Development, 1994
- Children in Poverty: Child Development and Public Policy.Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 1993
- Audio‐visualHealth Libraries Review, 1993
- Families, Policy, and Family Support PoliciesPrevention in Human Services, 1991
- Welfare and Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing: Evidence from the 1980sJournal of Marriage and Family, 1990
- Welfare Dependence Within and Across GenerationsScience, 1988