Abstract
This study attempts to clarify the effect of welfare generosity on family structure while controlling for community mores, local labor market conditions, and other sociodemographic characteristics. In the existing AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) literature, these latter factors have been largely ignored. The empirical analysis is conducted by linking individual-level data from the 1987 National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) with information on county-level unemployment rates, state AFDC benefits, and proxies of community mores. In particular, the detailed nature of the NSFH data set provides a unique opportunity to investigate the social and economic determinants of cohabitation, among other family structures. Local labor market conditions are found to significantly affect marriage and single-motherhood, while community conservatism is found to discourage the least conventional family structure — cohabitation. Finally, this study raises some question about the effect of AFDC policy on marriage and related events. Specifically, AFDC's statistical impact is found to be sensitive to the inclusion of an explicit measure of community conservatism in the empirical model specification.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bishop, J. (1980). Jobs, cash transfers and marital instability,Journal of Human Resources 15(3): 301–334.
Bumpass, L.L., Sweet, J.A. & Cherlin, A. (1991). The role of cohabitation in declining rates of marriage,Journal of Marriage and the Family 53: 913–927.
Bumpass, L.L. & Raley, R.K. (1993). Trends in the duration of single-parent families. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Center for Demography and Ecology, NSFH Working Paper No. 58.
Bumpass, L.L. & McLanahan, S. (1989). Unmarried motherhood: Recent trends, composition, and black-white differences,Demography 26(2): 279–286.
Danziger, S., Jakubson, G., Schwartz, S. & Smolensky, E. (1982). Work and welfare as determinants of female poverty and household headship,Quarterly Journal of Economics 77: 519–539.
Ellwood, D. & Bane, M.J. (1985). The impact of AFDC on family structure and living arrangements, in: R.G. Ehrenberg (ed.),Research in labor economics, vol. 7. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Feigenbaum, S., Karoly, L. & Levy, D. (1988). When votes are words not deeds: Some evidence from the nuclear freeze referendum,Public Choice 58: 201–216.
Fitzgerald, J. (1993). Local labor markets and local area effects on welfare duration. Bowdoin College (mimeo).
Garfinkel, I. & McLanahan, S. (1986).Single mothers and their children. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
Greene, W. (1993).Econometric Analysis. New York: MacMillan.
Hutchens, R., Jakubson, G. & Schwartz, S. (1989). AFDC and the formation of subfamilies,Journal of Human Resources 24(4): 599–628.
Lehrer, E.L. & Chiswick, C.U. (1993). The religious composition of unions: Its role as a determinant of marital stability,Demography 30(3): 385–404.
Lichter, D.T., LeClere, F.B. & McLaughlin, D.K. (1991). Local marriage markets and the marital behavior of black and white women,American Journal of Sociology 96(4): 843–67.
Maddala, G.S. (1992).Introduction to Econometrics. New York: MacMillan.
McLanahan, S. & Booth, K. (1989). Mother-only families: Problems, prospects and politics,Journal of Marriage and the Family 5: 557–580.
McMahon, W. & Shao-Chung, C. (1991). Geographical cost of living differences: interstate and intrastate, update 1991. Illinois State University, Center for the Study of Educational Finance, McArthur/Spencer Series No. 20.
Moffitt, R. (1990). The effect of the US welfare system on marital status,Journal of Public Economics 41: 101–124.
Moffitt, R. (1992). Incentive effects of the US welfare system: A review,Journal of Economic Literature 30(1): 1–61.
Moulton, B.R. (1990). An illustration of a pitfall in estimating the effects of aggregate variables on micro units,The Review of Economics and Statistics 72(2): 334–338.
Moynihan, D.P. (1965).The negro family: The case for national action. US Department of Labor, Office of Policy Planning and Research.
Smith, T.W. (1990). Classifying protestant denominations,Review of Religious Research 31(3): 225–245.
Stark, R. (1984). Religion and conformity: Reaffirming a sociology of religion,Sociological Analysis 45(4): 273–282.
Sweet, J., Bumpass, L. & Call, V. (1988). The design and content of the national survey of families and households. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Center for Demography and Ecology, NSFH Working Paper No. 1.
Thomas, D.L. & Cornwall, M. (1990). Religion and family in the 1980s: Discovery and development,Journal of Family and Marriage 52: 983–992.
Thornton, A., Axnin, W.G. & Hill, D.H. (1992). Reciprocal effects of religiosity, cohabitation and marriage,American Journal of Sociology 98(3): 628–51.
Thornton, A. (1989). Changing attitudes toward family issues in the United States,Journal of Family and Marriage 51: 873–893.
US Bureau of the Census (1992). Marriage, divorce, and remarriage in the 1990s,Current Population Reports, pp. 23–180. Washington, DC: US GPO.
Wilson, W.J. & Neckerman, K. (1986). Poverty and family structure: The widening gap between evidence and public policy issues, pp. 232–259, in: S. Danziger & D. Weinberg (eds.),Fighting poverty: What works and what doesn't. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Winkler, A.E. (1993). The living arrangements of single mothers with dependent children: An added perspective,American Journal of Economics and Sociology 52(1): 1–18.
Winkler, A.E. (1995). Does AFDC-UP Encourage Two-Parent Families?,Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (in press).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Winkler, A.E. The determinants of a mother's choice of family structure. Popul Res Policy Rev 13, 283–303 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01074339
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01074339