Research Report Teenagers and Welfare Reform
Paul Offner
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The problems of teenage parents were high among the concerns of the drafters of the 1996 welfare reform law, as a result of which several provisions targeted to this group were added to the legislation. Surprisingly, however, there has been little effort to determine how welfare reform has affected teenagers. This paper attempts to address that need. In particular, it seeks to answer three questions: first, how did implementation of the 1996 reforms affect school attendance among teenage parents/teenagers; second, how did it affect living arrangements; and third, how did it affect out-of-wedlock fertility.
Research Areas Education Children and youth Families Social safety net
Tags Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Family structure Sexual attitudes and behavior