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Open Access

The Effect of Quarantining Welfare on School Attendance in Indigenous Communities

Deborah A. Cobb-Clark, Nathan Kettlewell, Stefanie Schurer and Sven Silburn
Published online before print September 09, 2021, 1218-9909R2; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.1218-9909R2
Deborah A. Cobb-Clark
University of Sydney Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families Over the Life Course
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Nathan Kettlewell
University of Technology Sydney Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families Over the Life Course
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Stefanie Schurer
University of Sydney Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
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Sven Silburn
Menzies School of Health Research
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Abstract

We identify the causal impact of quarantining welfare payments on Aboriginal children’s school attendance by exploiting exogenous variation in its rollout across communities. We find that income quarantining reduced attendance by 4.7 percent on average in the first five months. Attendance eventually returned to its initial level, but never improved. The attendance penalty does not operate through changes in student enrollments, geographic mobility, or other policy initiatives. Instead, we demonstrate that financial disruption may be responsible for the temporary reduction in school attendance. Supplemental analysis suggests that the policy rollout may have increased family discord.

JEL Classification:
  • D04
  • I28
  • I38
Keywords:
  • Income management
  • Restricted transfers
  • Welfare quarantining
  • Indigenous disadvantage
  • School attendance
  • Policy evaluation

This open access article is distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) and is freely available online at: http://jhr.uwpress.org

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Journal of Human Resources: 60 (3)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 60, Issue 3
1 May 2025
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The Effect of Quarantining Welfare on School Attendance in Indigenous Communities
Deborah A. Cobb-Clark, Nathan Kettlewell, Stefanie Schurer, Sven Silburn
Journal of Human Resources Sep 2021, 1218-9909R2; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.1218-9909R2

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The Effect of Quarantining Welfare on School Attendance in Indigenous Communities
Deborah A. Cobb-Clark, Nathan Kettlewell, Stefanie Schurer, Sven Silburn
Journal of Human Resources Sep 2021, 1218-9909R2; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.1218-9909R2
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Keywords

  • D04
  • I28
  • I38
  • Income management
  • Restricted transfers
  • Welfare quarantining
  • Indigenous disadvantage
  • school attendance
  • Policy evaluation
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