Welfare and Child Support Measures in Fragile Families Data (baseline and 1-year surveys)

1. Welfare and Child Support Measures in Fragile Families Data(baseline and 1-year surveys)

2. Child Support • Formal Child Support – 3 steps • Paternity Establishment • Obtaining an Order • Getting a Payment • Informal Child Support • Between mom and dad

3. Formal Child Support Measures • Paternity establishment • In or out of hospital • Formal Agreement (order) • When and where agreement made • Amount ordered • Whether visitation is included • Formal Payment • How much • Arrears • How much

4. Informal Child Support Measures • Informal Agreement • When made • How much agreed to • Informal Payment • How much • In-Kind Contributions from Father • How often dad buys: toys, clothes, medicine, child care items (diapers), food/formula, other things

5. Other CS Measures • Does mom receive child support from other fathers? • How much • Dad’s obligations to children from other mothers: • Does he have order • Make payments (how much) • Have arrears (how much)

6. Limitations of CS Measures • Informal support only for those w/o orders (in 18 cities) • Resident parents (in 2 cities) not asked about formal support • Cannot construct month by month child support history • Not sure if moms on welfare are reporting actual amount received or amount father is paying (to state)

7. Child Support Outcomes for Mothers w/ Nonmarital births not Cohabiting w/Father (1-year)

8. Welfare Receipt Measures • Baseline • Public assistance/welfare/food stamp receipt in past 12 months (combined question) • 1-Year Survey – TANF • Current receipt • Receipt in past 12 months • # of months • Amount received last month • Ever receipt (when and for how long)

9. Other TANF Questions • Baseline: knowledge about TANF questions • Required to do anything for benefits? • Benefits cut off or reduced? • Ever think you were eligible? • Ever apply? • Result of application?

10. Other Types of Public Assistance • Baseline Survey • How paid for birth (Medicaid/private/no ins.) • 1-Year Survey • Food Stamps (# of months, amount) • Medicaid • Other help (unemployment, workers comp) • SSI • Public Housing • Child Care assistance • WIC • Apply for EITC?

11. Limitations of TANF Measures • Baseline TANF question combined w/food stamps, so can’t tell when started receiving • Very difficult to construct month by month history of TANF reliance • Have to assume that they received the same amount each month

12. Reliance on Public Assistance for Mothers w/ Nonmarital Births

13. Types of Questions We Can Answer • The effect of Child Support/Welfare Receipt on: • Mom/dad’s labor supply • Father/child contact • Parents’ relationship • Mom’s welfare participation • Child well-being • Economic hardship • Family formation/marriage • The determinants of Child Support/Welfare Receipt • Explaining variation in Child Support/Welfare Receipt

14. TANF Reliance at 1-year by City (mothers w/nonmarital births)

15. Proportion of Mothers w/ Order by City (nonmarital births, not residing with father)

16. Use FF Measures to Construct City-Level Measures Example 1: Paternity Establishment • Construct city-level aggregate measures • Purge of city compositional differences Example 2: Welfare generosity • Construct city-level sanction measures • Use lagged measures