The Effect of Child Support on Selection into Marriage and Fertility

@article{Tannenbaum2020TheEO,
  title={The Effect of Child Support on Selection into Marriage and Fertility},
  author={Daniel I. Tannenbaum},
  journal={Journal of Labor Economics},
  year={2020},
  volume={38},
  pages={611 - 652}
}
This paper studies the expansion of US child support policies from 1977 to 1992 and its consequences for marriage and fertility decisions. I develop a model showing that child support enforces ex ante commitment from men to provide financial support in the event of a child, which (1) increases premarital sex among couples unlikely to marry and (2) reduces the abortion rate by reducing the cost of child-rearing to single moms. Using variation in the rollout relative to the timing of nonmarital… Expand
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Citation Type

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