RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Impact of Child Support Enforcement on Fertility, Parental Investments, and Child Well-Being
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 28
OP 45
DO 10.3368/jhr.XLI.1.28
VO XLI
IS 1
A1 Anna Aizer
A1 Sara McLanahan
YR 2006
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XLI/1/28.abstract
AB Increasing the probability of paying child support, in addition to increasing resources available for investment in children, also may alter the incentives faced by men to have children out of wedlock. We find that strengthening child support enforcement leads men to have fewer out-of-wedlock births and among those who do become fathers, to do so with more educated women and those with a higher propensity to invest in children. Thus, policies that compel men to pay child support may affect child outcomes through two pathways: an increase in financial resources and a birth selection process.