Brief Do Child Characteristics Affect How Children Fare in Families Receiving and Leaving Welfare?
Sharon Vandivere, Martha Zaslow, Jennifer Brooks, Zakia Redd
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Previous research using the 1999 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) found few differences in developmental risk between children in families who were currently receiving welfare and those in families that had formerly received welfare. This paper reports on new NSAF analyses revealing a pattern in which male adolescents in the families of former recipients may be faring worse than their counterparts in the families of current recipients. Differences in family characteristics, such as income, family structure, and parental employment, did not account for the elevated levels of developmental risk found among adolescent boys in former recipient families.
Research and Evidence Family and Financial Well-Being Tax and Income Supports
Expertise Families Social Safety Net Early Childhood
Tags Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Economic well-being Family structure Children and youth