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Child Care in the Wake of Welfare Reform: The Impact of Government Subsidies on the Economic Well-Being of Single-Mother Families

Meyers, Marcia K.; Han, Wen-Jui; Waldfogel, Jane; Garfinkel, Irwin

Using microsimulation techniques to estimate the impact of welfare reform in New York, we find that 5 years after federal and state reforms child-care use and costs will rise substantially and families will bear most of these costs. When family incomes are adjusted for child-care costs, most single-mother families will continue to be poor even with greater earnings, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and food stamps. The distribution of child-care costs between government and families, and the implications for poverty, will depend on the extent to which government subsidizes the child-care costs of single mothers.

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Title
Social Service Review
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1086/591881

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Social Work
Published Here
September 10, 2012