The Impact of State Welfare Policies on Women's Cohabitation

63 Pages Posted: 14 Jan 2005

See all articles by Mark W. Smith

Mark W. Smith

Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System

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

Smith, Mark W., The Impact of State Welfare Policies on Women's Cohabitation (November 1999). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=648327 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.648327

Mark W. Smith (Contact Author)

Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System ( email )

Palo Alto, CA 94304
United States

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