Age-Related Differences in the Effects of Employment Policies on Low-Income Single-Parent Families and Children
Jessica Thornton Walker, University of Texas at Austin
Aletha Huston, University of Texas at Austin
Beyond their economic consequences, policies designed to move low-income single parents into work matter to the welfare of children and families, and their effects may vary by child age. Extant research suggests that this is true for children’s achievement. However, less is known about age-related differences in the effects of employment policies on children’s social behavior or family contexts. Using data from five experimental employment policies, we examine impacts on children’s positive and problem behaviors, parents’ depression, parenting, and childcare-use at two points in childhood: preschool-age and school-age. We also investigate whether policy-induced changes in parents’ depression, parenting, and childcare-use mediated the impacts on children’s social behavior. Results indicate that the policies benefitted school-age children and their parents—but not preschool children. Changes in parents’ depression, parenting, and childcare-use partially account for improvements in school-age children’s social behavior, but among preschoolers, they counteracted a tendency for programs to reduce problem behaviors.
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Presented in Session 168: Policy and Child Well-Being