Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
2-2015
College/Unit
Chambers College of Business and Economics
Document Number
15-04
Department/Program/Center
Economics
Abstract
I examine whether the family cap policy that reduces or eliminates incremental welfare benefits for additional births born to mothers already on welfare would affect both the quantity and quality of births in terms of birth weight. I find that the family cap produces very pronounced effect on reducing out of wedlock birth and low birth weight rates among teenagers. The evidence suggests that the family cap policy might not just produce a deterrent effect on nonmarital childbearing but also a quality effect on birth: those births that actually occur are endowed with better health in terms of birth weight.
Digital Commons Citation
Wong, Ho-Po Crystal, "The Quantity and Quality Adjustment of Births when Having More is Not Subsidized: the Effect of the TANF Family Cap on Fertility and Birth Weight" (2015). Economics Faculty Working Papers Series. 137.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/econ_working-papers/137