Eban Goodstein wrote: > > According to Greg Acs at the Urban Institute, more recent research than > Max cites is finding small impacts on out of wedlock births among white > women-- there is a brief lit review in an article by Acs on the Urban > Institute web page. Eban, Thanks for the update. I would suggest that the more salient issue is the distribution of this effect between short- and long- term welfare spells. The existence of the system is arguably a safety net that a rational person would take into account. How much it would figure in considerations is a different question. The public is most overwrought about chronic use of welfare -- welfare as a career substitute. Temporary use of the system to support an out-of-wedlock birth could be interpreted as an alternative to abortion and welcome from some disparate standpoints on the left and right. Stimulation of the "career alternative" is more the political, social, and economic problem. If the effect of benefits on all out-of-wedlock births is small, the effect on those who stay on the rolls must be a lower order of magnitude. Max ==================================================== Max B. Sawicky 202-775-8810 (voice) Economic Policy Institute 202-775-0819 (fax) 1660 L Street, NW [EMAIL PROTECTED] Suite 1200 Washington, DC 20036
