Do family caps reduce out-of-wedlock births? Evidence from Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey and Virginia

During the 1990s, 23 states implemented family cap policies as a means to reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock births among welfare recipients. Using Current Population Survey data from 1989 to 1999, we examine the impact of family cap policies on the birth rates of single, less-educated women with children. We use the first five states that were granted waivers from the Department of Health and Human Services to implement family caps as “natural experiments.” Specifically, we compare trends in out-of-wedlock birth rates in Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey and Virginia to trends in states that did not implement family caps or any other waivers prior to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. We employ several techniques to increase the credibility of results from our “natural experiment,” such as the inclusion of multiple comparison groups, controls for differential time trends, and “difference-in-difference-in-differences” estimators. Our regression estimates generally do not provide evidence that family cap policies reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock births among single, less-educated women with children.     

Cohabitation and child Well-Being

In “Cohabitation and Child Well-Being,” Wendy D. Manning, an associate professor in Bowling Green State University's Department of Sociology, summarizes what is known about cohabitation and its effects on children. She describes how some people view “cohabiting-couple” households (that is, unmarried couples cohabiting with a biological child of at least one of the adults) as a two-parent family form and that one of the major goals of the 1996 welfare reform law was to encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. The main sources of data she uses are the Current Population Survey (CPS), the Decennial Census, the Survey of Income and Program Participation, the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), and the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG).     

Acceptability of Information Management Strategies: Adolescents' and Parents' Judgments and Links With Adjustment and Relationships

Parents' and adolescents' (M_age = 15.7) acceptability ratings of four information management strategies and associations between these ratings and adjustment, relationship quality, and strategy use were examined in 174 middle‐class families over 1 year. Acceptance of information management was greater for adolescents than for parents and for personal than for prudential issues; acceptance decreased across telling only if asked, avoidance, omitting details, and lying. Strategy acceptance and use were associated for lying and avoiding the topic. Controlling for strategy use, teens' acceptance of lying, omitting details, and avoidance was associated with poorer parent–adolescent relationships and more problem behavior 1 year later; acceptance of lying was associated with increases in depressed mood. Associations in the opposite direction were rare.     

A Genetically Informed Study of the Intergenerational Transmission of Marital Instability

Environmental or genetic influences, or both could account for the increased risk of divorce among the offspring of separated parents. Previous studies have used covariates to statistically control for confounds, but the present research is the first genetically informed study of the topic. The investigation used the Children of Twins Design with twins, their spouses, and their young adult offspring (n = 2,310) from the Australian Twin Registry to test whether selection on the basis of genetic or shared environment factors accounted for part of the intergenerational association. The analyses also controlled for measured characteristics of both parents. The results suggest that both environmentally mediated and genetic risk account for the intergenerational transmission, supporting the roles of both selection and causation.     

Private Residential Care for Older Persons: Local Impacts of Care in the Community Reforms in England and Wales

The 1990 National Health Service and Care in the Community Act, implemented in 1993, had as a prime objective the creation of social care markets. Prior to these reforms, private residential homes had enjoyed almost guaranteed state financial support for the care of residents, but since then, residential homes have had to compete amongst each other for a finite number of clientsfunded by limited local budgets. The withdrawal of guaranteed state support and the introduction of a marketplace have had negative impacts on many residential home businesses. Indeed, many homes are facing financial difficulties. This paper considers the actions and attitudes of proprietors under the new conditions, based on a three-stage survey in Devon. The private residential sector illustrates that local social care markets have the potential to produce negative outcomes that are far from ideal and, to some extent, the paper highlights a market failure. As a case study this research also demonstrates the value of undertaking locality-based detailed studies over time to investigatethe impacts of policy change.     

Quality in services for disabled children and their families: what can theory,policy and research on children's and parents' views tell us?

Many discourses surround the concept of ‘service quality’, however, it continues to remain partial and ambiguous. This paper seeks to unpack ‘quality’ in services for disabled children and their families. Theoretical models are initially reviewed and then considered in relation to key policy guidelines, empirical data drawing upon parents' and children's experiences of ‘quality’ in services are presented. This paper demonstrates the many different levels within the concept of ‘quality’ and highlights the importance of recognising and respecting that children and parents frequently value different aspects of ‘quality’. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Working With Adolescents And Children Who Have Committed Sex Offences

Young people are capable of committing serious sexual offences against their siblings, other young people, and adults. This paper defines adolescent sexual offending, explores assessment and treatment approaches, and examines the role of family therapy. Its aim is to encourage family therapists to acknowledge the existence of sex offending behaviours amongst our young and to become more informed about how to respond therapeutically to this complex issue.     

Collective belonging and mass media consumption: unraveling how technological medium and cultural genre shape the national imaginings of Australians

Sociological literature lacks a firm evidentiary base with respect to how mass media usage works to forge patterns of collective attachment among socially diverse individuals within contemporary societies. This paper seeks to engage with this absence by examining the detailed ways in which complexities of media consumptions are linked with divergent popular visions of national belongingness and identity. Focusing in particular on variations in cultural genre and delivery technology, the study aims to help clarify extant disciplinary discussions about if and how media consumption interconnects with the substance of individual national imaginings in an era of cultural globalization. Using data from a large social survey of changing visions of national identity among contemporary Australians, the study shows that established media technologies and the consumption of lowbrow genres harden individual attachment to a traditional imagining of the nation. By contrast use of the Internet and highbrow genres foster a more inclusive vision of nation identity. In terms of sustaining these different national identity configurations, cultural genre is revealed to be of greater consequence than technological medium. Furthermore, and in a more general way, the findings suggest that notwithstanding the complexity of effects, mass media usage stands up alongside a more established concern with individual social structural background as a highly salient factor in shaping contemporary formations of national attachment.     

The Labor Market Effects of Sex and Race Discrimination Laws

We study the effects of state sex and race discrimination laws that were passed prior to federal antidiscrimination legislation. State sex discrimination laws targeted discrimination in pay only. Because an equal pay constraint raises the relative price of female labor, we would expect the relative employment of females to decline. We find robust evidence that state equal pay laws for women reduced relative employment of both black women and white women. We also find some evidence of positive effects of race discrimination laws on earnings of blacks relative to whites, although no evidence of employment effects. (JEL J15 , J16 , J18 , J23 )