Rachel Fung will be presenting in person/via Zoom.
Abstract
Using contemporary methodology, I revisit the 1996 welfare reform and analyze its effects on fertility. I find that AFDC waivers had negligible effects on births. However, states with more generous welfare payments experienced faster declines in birth rates after the reform. Moreover, individuals more likely to be on welfare experienced larger declines in births. This suggests that the welfare reform in 1996, which stripped the entitlement status of AFDC, contributed to the declining birth rate in the recent decades.