Andréa Crolick

Hao and Cherlin found that welfare reform has not reduced teen fertility or dropout rates. Evidence shows that welfare reform is associated with a higher risk for both.  Hao and Cherlin found that welfare reform has not reduced teen fertility or dropout rates. Evidence shows that welfare reform is associated with a higher risk for both.  Hao et al. stated that individual and family factors are central influences to adolescent fertility. They found no significant evidence to determine if welfare policy has an effect on the decisions of teenagers to have children; welfare reform does not reduce teen pregnancy.  Lichter and Jayakody discussed positive changes resulting from welfare reform including a decrease in poverty and a decrease in out-of-wedlock childbearing. Non-marital fertility rates have stabilized.  Lopoo and DeLeire found that implementation of minor parent provisions resulted in a slight decline in teen fertility rates.  Wise et al. stated that in order for welfare policies to affect birth rates, they must lead to a decrease in sexual activites. Studies show that welfare receipt has had little direct impact on sexual activity. Empirical evidence does not support a direct relationship between welfare receipt and sexual behavior.

Hao, Lingxin and Andrew J. Cherlin “Welfare Reform and Teenage Pregnancy, Childbirth, and School Dropout”. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66 (1): Hao, Lingxin, Nan. M. Astone and Andrew J Cherlin “Effects of Child Support and Welfare Policies on Nonmarital Teenage Childbearing and Motherhood.” Population Research and Policy Review, 26(3): Lichter, Daniel T. and Rukamalie Jayakody “Welfare Reform: How do we Measure Success?” Annual Review of Sociology, 28: Lopoo, Leonard M. and Thomas DeLeire “Did Welfare Reform Influence the Fertility of Young Teens? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 25 (2): Wise, Paul, Wendy Chavkin and Diana Romero “Assessing the Effects of Welfare Reform Policies on Reproductive and Infant Health.” American Journal of Public Health, 89 (10):

CDC National Vital Statistics System CDC National Vital Statistics System Administration for Children & Families TANF Caseload Data Administration for Children & Families TANF Caseload Data US Census Bureau Population Estimates US Census Bureau Population Estimates

1. Go to AFC, CDC Vital Statistics, and U.S. Census Bureau websites and obtain necessary data. (TANF caseloads, state population, and teen birth rates for ). 2. Copy and paste data into table following example below: 3. Calculate amount of teen births for each state by adding totals for ages Calculate the percentage of teen births and TANF recipients for each state.

 How to make column charts: Insert → 2D column chart → select data Add series name and series values for each year for percent of teen birth rates Use state names for horizontal axis labels. ** Make a column chart for percent of TANF caseloads as well.  How to make line charts: Insert → Line chart with dots → select data Add series names and series values for each year for percent of teen birth rates. Use state names for horizontal axis labels. **Make a line chart for percent of TANF caseloads as well. **Be sure to add a linear trend line to line charts.  How to find percentage of teen births/TANF recipients: Take total of teen births/TANF recipients and divide by total population and multiply by 100. Click and drag from bottom right corner of cell to bottom of the column to calculate percentages for all states.

 How to make a pivot table: Insert  Pivot Table  Pivot Table: Make a pivot table for each year for percent of teen births and percent of TANF recipients. ** summarize values by average**

**There does not seem to be enough evidence to state whether or not teen birth rates are correlated with TANF caseloads. From the percent of people in the US receiving TANF seems steady.

** From the percent of people receiving TANF seems to have decreased slightly but not significantly.

** From the percent of teen births seems pretty steady, quite similar to the percent of TANF caseloads across the country.

** From it seems that the percent of teen pregnancy rates remained steady.

** From the percent of TANF recipients decreased, but not significantly

** From the percent of the population that were teen mothers remained right around 0.14%