Over the last 10 years, a variety of analysts have blamed high unemployment and stagnant economic growth in Europe on inflexible labor markets and pointed to the US as a more flexible economy, due to its less regulated labor markets and less generous social protection programs. This paper...

Public assistance payments have been blamed for increases in out-ofwedlock birth rates among teenagers and other women. The data indicate that rising nonmarital birth rates are primarily caused by a decline in fertility among married women, combined with a growing share of unmarried women in the...