Showing 1 – 6 of 6 results.
Self-published
Children and the US Social Safety Net: Balancing Disincentives for Adults and Benefits for Children (ICPSR 163181)
Released/updated on: 2022-05-02
Economic research on the safety net has evolved significantly over time, moving away from a
near exclusive focus on the negative incentive effects of means-tested assistance on employment,
earnings, marriage and fertility to include examination of the potential positive benefits of such
programs to children. Initially, this research on benefits to children focused on short run impacts,
but as we accumulated knowledge about skill production and better data became available, the
research evolved further to include important long run economic outcomes such as employment,
earnings and mortality. Once the positive long-run benefits to children are considered, many
safety net programs are cost-effective. However, the current government practice of limiting the
time horizon for cost-benefit calculations of major policy initiatives reduces the influence of the
most current economic research on the long run benefits. We conclude with a discussion of why
the rate of child poverty in the US is still higher than most OECD countries and how research on
children and the safety net can better inform policy-making going forward.
Self-published
Data and Code for the Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Mothers on Family Structure and Maternal Well-Being (ICPSR 184481)
Released/updated on: 2024-03-07
We use newly collected data for 16,000 women who applied for Mothers’ Pensions, America’s first welfare program, to investigate the effect of means-tested cash transfers on lifetime fam- ily structure and maternal well-being. In the short-term, cash transfers delayed marriage and lowered geographic mobility. In the long run, transfers had no impact on the probability of remarriage, spouse quality or fertility. Cash transfers did not affect women’s well-being, mea- sured by longevity and family income in 1940. Given the lack of significant negative behavioral impacts, the benefits of transfers appear to exceed costs if they have, even modest, positive impacts on children.
Self-published
Replication data for: Do Low Levels of Blood Lead Reduce Children's Future Test Scores? (ICPSR 113703)
Released/updated on: 2019-10-12
We construct a unique individual-level dataset linking preschool blood lead levels with third grade test scores for Rhode Island children born 1997–2005. Using two identification strategies, we show for the first time that reductions of lead from even historically low levels have significant positive effects. A one-unit decrease in average blood lead levels reduces the probability of being substantially below proficient in reading (math) by 0.96 (0.79) percentage points on a baseline of 12 (16) percent. Since disadvantaged children have greater exposure to lead, lead poisoning may be one of the causes of continuing disparities in test scores.
Self-published
Replication data for: The Gender Wage Gap and Domestic Violence (ICPSR 112374)
Released/updated on: 2019-10-11
Three quarters of all violence against women is perpetrated by domestic partners. This study exploits exogenous changes in the demand for labor in female-dominated industries to estimate the impact of the male-female wage gap on domestic violence. Decreases in the wage gap reduce violence against women, consistent with a household bargaining model. These findings shed new light on the health production process as well as observed income gradients in health and suggest that in addition to addressing concerns of equity and efficiency, pay parity can also improve the health of American women via reductions in violence. (JEL D13, I12, J16, J23, J31)
Self-published
Replication data for: The Long-Run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families (ICPSR 112988)
Released/updated on: 2019-10-12
We estimate the long-run impact of cash transfers to poor families
on children's longevity, educational attainment, nutritional status,
and income in adulthood. To do so, we collected individual-
level administrative records of applicants to the Mothers' Pension
program -- the first government-sponsored welfare program in the
United States (1911-1935) -- and matched them to census, WWII,
and death records. Male children of accepted applicants lived one
year longer than those of rejected mothers. They also obtained one-third more years of schooling, were less likely to be underweight, and had higher income in adulthood than children of rejected mothers.
(JEL I12, I14, I18, I32, I38, J16, N32)
Self-published
U.S. Mothers' Pension Records: 1911-1930 (ICPSR 100199)
Released/updated on: 2016-08-15
Time period: 1911-01-01--1935-01-01
The Mothers' Pension Program was a needs-based program, established on a state-by-state basis between 1911 and 1931. The first state to pass the program was Illinois in 1911, and by 1931, all but four states had passed a program to aid mothers with dependent children. Mothers in need of pensions applied for them at the county-level. At present, 80,000 individual case files have been collected. For some states, the full universe of counties that provided MP benefits have been collected if found, while for others only a subset of counties have been found—but if a county has records, the universe of records has been collected by the researchers of the Mothers' Pension Project. For an historical account of the Mothers' Pension program in each state, see the Mothers' Pension Project Website here: http://individual.utoronto.ca/shari_eli/datamp.html. Records have been collected for the following 14 states: Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. In some states, all or nearly all records are no longer extant due to short retention schedules set by states or privacy restrictions.
The records contained in this extract pertain to those used in the folllowing article: A. Aizer, S. Eli, J. Ferrie, A. Lleras-Muney (2015). "The Long-Run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families." American Economic Review, April 2016.
The records contained in this extract pertain to those used in the folllowing article: A. Aizer, S. Eli, J. Ferrie, A. Lleras-Muney (2015). "The Long-Run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families." American Economic Review, April 2016.