Irwin Garfinkel

Single Mothers, the Underclass, and Social Policy

This article focuses on the question of whether mother-only families are part of an emerging urban underclass. An underclass is defined as a population exhibiting the following characteristics: weak labor force attachment, persistence of weak attachment, and residential isolation in neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty and unemployment. We find that only a small minority of single mothers fit the description of an underclass: less than 5 percent. But a small and growing minority of black, never-married mothers meet all three criteria. We argue that welfare programs are necessary but that too heavy a reliance on welfare can facilitate the growth of an underclass. In contrast, universal programs such as child support assurance, child care, health care, childrens allowances, and full employment would discourage such a trend and promote economic independence among single mothers.

Noncustodial Fathers’ Ability to Pay Child Support

This article explores the extent to which noncustodial fathers can pay child support by estimating the income of noncustodial fathers and coupling these estimates with simulations of alternative normative standards for how much absent parents should be expected to contribute to the costs of rearing their children. The study indicates that the amount that is currently paid in child support (

The growth of families headed by women: 1950–1980

6.8 billion in 1983) is far below the amount that should be paid under the various standards—from

Is In-Kind Redistribution Efficient

24 billion to

The effect of routine income withholding of child support collections

29 billion.

Professor Friedman, meet Lady Rhys-Williams: NIT vs. CIT

In recent decades, the number of families headed by women has increased dramatically. In this article, we use U.S. census data from 1950 to 1980 to consider the extent to which population growth, fertility change, decreased marriage, increased divorce, and increased household headship have contributed to the growth of femaleheaded families. For white women, the major source of growth during the 1960s and 1970s was an increase in the number of formerly married mothers due to increased divorce and decreased remarriage. There is a similar pattern for black women for the 1960–1970 period. During the 1970–1980 decade, however, the major source of growth for black women was an increase in the number of never-married mothers due to decreased marriage and increased fertility among nonmarried women.

Income growth among nonresident fathers: evidence from Wisconsin

Introduction, 320. — I. The taxpayers preferences, 321. — II. The beneficiarys preferences, 324. — III. The contract curve and social welfare function, 325. — IV. Special cases, 325. — Conclusion, 329.

The Wisconsin Child Support Assurance System Estimated Effects on Poverty, Labor Supply, Caseloads, and Costs

Oxazolo(and oxazino)[3,2-d]pyrazolo[3,4-f][1,4]-diazepin-5(6H)-ones and methods for the preparation are disclosed. The compounds can be prepared by one or more of the following procedures: Reaching the appropriately substituted pyrazolodiazepinone with an alkylene oxide; cyclizing the appropriately substituted 5-aroyl-4-[2-(hydroxyalkylamino)acetamido]pyrazole via heat or an acid catalyst; reacting the appropriately substituted Schiff base of a pyrazole and/or oxazolidine of a pyrazole with a haloacylhalide in the presence of a base; reacting the appropriately substituted oxazolopyrazolodiazepinone or oxazinopyrazolodiazepinone with an alkylating agent in the presence of a base. The compounds are pharmacological agents, especially anticonvulsants.

Income Testing and Social Welfare: An Optimal Tax-Transfer Model

Abstract In the conventional view, income testing is required to make a tax-transfer program ‘efficient.’ This view can be seen to hinge on the ‘target efficiency’ concept. The economic efficiency of income testing is analyzed here-including distortions of household behavior and the total administrative costs of the tax-transfer system. The income-tested program is a negative income tax system (NIT), which has divergent marginal tax rates for beneficiaries and net taxpayers; the nontested scheme is a credit income tax (CIT), which makes universal payments and imposes a uniform marginal tax rate. Theoretical analysis shows the conditions under which the CIT is more efficient than a comparable NIT. Some suggestive empirical evidence and policy considerations in the choice between NIT and CIT are presented.

The potential of child care tax credits to reduce poverty and welfare recipiency

This study examines the changes over time in the personal incomes of nonresident fathers—whether divorced or nonmarital—in Wisconsin. Using data from the Wisconsin Court Record data base and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, the authors examine the incomes of these fathers over the first seven years following a divorce or the initiation of a paternity suit. They also study separately the income patterns of initially poor nonresident fathers and fathers whose nonresident children receive welfare. The most important finding is that the incomes of nonmarital fathers, which typically are low in the beginning, increase dramatically over the years after paternity establishment—often to a level comparable with the incomes of divorced fathers. On the basis of their findings, the authors conclude that failing to establish child support obligations for nonresident fathers simply because their incomes are initially low does not appear justified. nt]mis|The authors thank the Russell Sage Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services for financial support. They also wish to thank participants in the APPAM panel on noncustodial fathers, as well as colleagues at IRP, especially Pat Brown, for helpful comments and suggestions. A preliminary draft of this paper was presented at APPAM, Bethesda, Maryland, in October 1991.