In this paper we provide evidence on how the UK government's welfare reforms since 1998 have affected the material well-being of children in low-income families. We examine changes in expenditure patterns and ownership of durable goods for low- and higher-income families between the pre-reform...

This article synthesizes what we know and do not know about the links between family work arrangements and child development, drawing on research from Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The paper reviews the evidence about how parental employment affects children's cognitive...

This paper examines how child maltreatment is affected by the economic circumstances of parents. “Child maltreatment” encompasses a wide range of behaviors that adversely affect children. It includes neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and other forms of abuse or neglect. Using...

Using the 1970, 1980 1990 Censuses, the authors investigate the impact of labor and marriage market conditions on the incidence of marriage of young women (age 16–24). They first estimate the effects on marriage of personal characteristics and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)...

This paper uses microdata from the United States, Britain and Japan to examine the effects of family leave coverage on women's employment after childbirth. The United States had no national family leave legislation until 1993, but many women were covered by employer policies. Britain has had...

In this paper we provide evidence on how the UK government’s welfare reforms since 1998 have affected the material well-being of children in low-income families. We examine changes in expenditure patterns and ownership of durable goods for low- and higher-income families between the pre-reform...

It is widely agreed that the early years are a particularly important time for efforts to increase social mobility, because a good deal of inequality is already apparent by the time children start school, and because children’s development may be less amenable to change after they enter...

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 represents a dramatic change in the US welfare state. One of its key goals was to move lone mothers, even those with young children, from welfare to work. Early evidence suggests that, in concert with a strong...

In this paper we use microdata on employment and earnings from a variety of industrialised countries to investigate the family gap in pay - the differential in hourly wages between women with children and women without children. We present results from seven countries: Australia, Canada, the...