The Impact of State Welfare Policies on Women's Cohabitation
63 Pages Posted: 14 Jan 2005
Date Written: November 1999
Abstract
Cohabitation among single women has risen over many years. Aside from the well-known increase in premarital cohabitation, state welfare policies may encourage low-income women to coreside with other adults. Using the 1990 Census, I test for evidence that state welfare policies - including benefit levels, penalties for cohabitors' income, and disregards of unearned income - alter the proportion of women who live with other adults outside of marriage. I find immigrant status to have a strong, positive effect on the probability of marriage and a simultaneous negative impact on being a lone woman. Partial and total work disabilities are associated with more cohabitation, as are higher rental costs. Contrary to expectation, the data reveal no clear pattern between AFDC policies and women's choice of cohabitation. I conclude that policymakers interested in altering the rate of cohabitation among poor women will not be able to use traditional welfare policies to do so.
Keywords: AFDC, TANF, welfare programs, cohabitation
JEL Classification: I30, I38, J10, J12
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation