Donna Ruane Morrison

Welfare and adolescent sex: The effects of family history, benefit levels, and community context

To examine whether welfare serves as an incentive to early childbearing, this article explores the first steps in the process of becoming a teenage parent: risk of first voluntary sexual intercourse at an early age and, among teens having sex, contraceptive use at first intercourse. Alternative operationalizations of welfare include the AFDC benefit level in the state of residence, the ratio of the benefit level to family income, community-level welfare receipt, and family history of welfare receipt. Results do not support the hypothesis that higher welfare benefits provide an incentive that hastens sex or reduces contraceptive use. Analyses provide moderate support for a culture of poverty perspective among girls. Intergenerational welfare receipt has a borderline significant effect on the timing of first sex, and maternal welfare receipt predicts nonuse of contraception at first sex for girls. Strong support is found for a stressful life experiences perspective, in which both parental marital disruption and nonvoluntary sex predict earlier voluntary sex.

The family support act and children: Potential pathways of influence

Abstract The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS), implemented in response to the Family Support Act of 1988, has the potential to affect childrens lives not only through changes in maternal education and family economic self-sufficiency but also through childrens experiences in nonmaternal care and changes in maternal subjective well-being. Previous research provides good evidence that each of these potential pathways of influence is important in shaping childrens development. Nevertheless, the available evidence provides only limited grounds on which to make predictions specifically regarding children and the Family Support Act. This paper identifies the problems in generalizing from the available data to the possible outcomes for children of a mandatory program like JOBS, summarizes ongoing research focusing on the children of mothers assigned to participate in JOBS, and considers future research steps that will be needed to understand the implications for children of programs to enhance the self-sufficiency of welfare mothers.