Search Results

Author: Blau, David M.
Resulting in 17 citations.
1. Blau, David M.
Child Outcomes in the NLSY79: An Assessment and Suggestions for Redesign
Presented: Washington DC, NLSY79 Redesign Conference, September 1998
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Child Development; Data Quality/Consistency; Life Course

This paper evaluates the contributions of the NLSY79 to research on the determinants of child outcomes and suggests improvements that could enhance its value as a research tool.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. "Child Outcomes in the NLSY79: An Assessment and Suggestions for Redesign." Presented: Washington DC, NLSY79 Redesign Conference, September 1998.
2. Blau, David M.
Family Earning and Wage Inequality Early in the Life Cycle
Review of Economics and Statistics 66,2 (May 1984): 200-207.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1925820
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Keyword(s): Behavior; Childbearing; Family Income; Husbands, Income; Life Cycle Research; Wives, Income

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This article proposes an explanation for the fact that while wages of married women contribute to equalizing the distribution of family wages, the equalizing effect declines during the early stages of the married life cycle. The explanation is based on the interaction between on-the-job accumulation of human capital and labor supply behavior. Empirical results from the NLS panel data suggest that the explanation is plausible and also show that in contrast to the results of previous cross-section studies there is no decline over time in the equalizing effect of wives' earnings on the distribution of family earnings.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. "Family Earning and Wage Inequality Early in the Life Cycle." Review of Economics and Statistics 66,2 (May 1984): 200-207.
3. Blau, David M.
The Effect of Child Care Characteristics on Child Development
Working Paper, Department of Economics and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 1997
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Care; Child Development; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. "The Effect of Child Care Characteristics on Child Development." Working Paper, Department of Economics and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 1997.
4. Blau, David M.
The Effect of Child Care Characteristics on Child Development
Journal of Human Resources 34,4 (Fall 1999): 786-822.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/146417
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Care; Child Development; Home Environment; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Training

The effect of group size, staff-child ratio, training, and other characteristics of child care on child development is estimated using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. In contrast to most previous research, the sample is large and nationally representative, the data contain good measures of the home environment, and there are repeated measures of child development. Child care characteristics have little association with child development on average. Associations are found for some groups of children, but they are as likely to be of the "wrong" sign as they are to be of the sign predicted by developmental psychologists.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. "The Effect of Child Care Characteristics on Child Development." Journal of Human Resources 34,4 (Fall 1999): 786-822.
5. Blau, David M.
The Effect of Income on Child Development
Review of Economics and Statistics 81,2 (May 1999): 261-276.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2646864
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Care; Endogeneity; Fertility; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Morbidity; Mortality; Motor and Social Development (MSD); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Poverty; Siblings; Verbal Memory (McCarthy Scale)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study presents estimates of the effect of parental income on children's cognitive, social, and emotional development. The effect of current income is small, especially when income is treated as endogenous. The effect of 'permanent' income is substantially larger, but relatively small, when compared to the magnitude of recent policy-induced changes in income. Family background characteristics play a more important role than income in determining child outcomes. Policies that affect family income will have little direct impact on child development unless they result in very large and permanent changes in income.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. "The Effect of Income on Child Development." Review of Economics and Statistics 81,2 (May 1999): 261-276.
6. Blau, David M.
Haskell, Nancy L.
Haurin, Donald R.
Are Housing Characteristics Experienced by Children Associated with their Outcomes as Young Adults?
Journal of Housing Economics 46 (December 2019): 101631.
Also: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1051137717301304
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Childhood Residence; Criminal Justice System; Educational Attainment; Housing/Housing Characteristics/Types; Pregnancy, Adolescent; Welfare

We study the association between childhood housing characteristics and homeownership and a set of behavioral outcomes of young adults. The primary data set is the National Longitudinal Study of Youth-1979 cohort (NLSY79) and the Child and Young Adult surveys of the children of the female NLSY79 respondents, augmented with a record of the characteristics of dwellings occupied by respondents and their children throughout childhood. We find that living in an owner-occupied home during childhood is positively associated with young adults' educational attainment, and is negatively associated with teen pregnancy, criminal convictions, and the likelihood of being on welfare. In contrast, a measure of residential crowding during childhood has an independent relationship only with youths' criminal convictions. We explore several mechanisms that could explain these long run patterns, including unobserved parental heterogeneity and childhood cognition.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M., Nancy L. Haskell and Donald R. Haurin. "Are Housing Characteristics Experienced by Children Associated with their Outcomes as Young Adults?" Journal of Housing Economics 46 (December 2019): 101631.
7. Blau, David M.
Haurin, Donald R.
The Effect of the Price of Housing on Child and Young Adult Achievement
Journal of Real Estate Research 39,3 (2017): 289-318.
Also: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10835547.2017.12091475
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Keyword(s): Children, Academic Development; Geocoded Data; Housing/Housing Characteristics/Types; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Wage Rates

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Unprecedented swings in the real price of owner-occupied housing may have affected child development. We merge longitudinal data on child and young adult outcomes with information on local house prices and market rents, and analyze both the short- and long-term effects of the price of housing experienced during childhood. The results indicate that the price of owner-occupied housing has a small negative effect on children's mathematical achievement, but no consistent impact on reading achievement, behavior problems, or a child's body mass index. A higher average price of housing experienced during childhood has a negative effect on the wage rate of young adults, consistent with the negative effect on childhood mathematical achievement.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. and Donald R. Haurin. "The Effect of the Price of Housing on Child and Young Adult Achievement." Journal of Real Estate Research 39,3 (2017): 289-318.
8. Blau, David M.
Robins, Philip K.
A Dynamic Analysis of Turnover In Employment and Child Care
Demography 35,1 (February 1998): 83-96.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/tk7832976846gn80/
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Child Care; Job Turnover; Labor Market Demographics; Labor Market Surveys; Labor Market, Secondary; Labor Supply; Maternal Employment; Modeling

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The causes of turnover in child-care arrangements and maternal employment are analyzed using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, supplemented with state-level information on child-care markets. The results indicate that turnover in child care is quite high and that child and family characteristics help explain turnover. Important factors include the mother's wage, the cost of child care, age of the child, and previous child-care decisions. The reduced-form nature of the analysis makes it difficult to determine whether these factors are important because they are associated with unstable child-care supply or because they affect family decisions, conditional on supply factors. The results provide no direct evidence that child-care turnover is higher in states with more unstable child-care markets. Photocopy available from ABI/INFORM.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. and Philip K. Robins. "A Dynamic Analysis of Turnover In Employment and Child Care." Demography 35,1 (February 1998): 83-96.
9. Blau, David M.
Robins, Philip K.
Child Care Demand and Labor Supply of Young Mothers Over Time
Presented: Toronto, ON, Population Association of America Meetings, May 1990
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Child Care; Children; Fertility; Labor Supply; Maternal Employment; Mothers; Women

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

An analysis of panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) on fertility, employment and child care decisions of young women over time is examined. The women in the NLSY can be characterized as being in a volatile stage of their lives, when many economic and demographic factors are changing. (Periodical Abstracts)
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. and Philip K. Robins. "Child Care Demand and Labor Supply of Young Mothers Over Time." Presented: Toronto, ON, Population Association of America Meetings, May 1990.
10. Blau, David M.
Robins, Philip K.
Child Care Demand and Labor Supply of Young Mothers Over Time
Demography 28,3 (August 1991): 333-351.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/771316w650q87xw7/
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Behavior; Child Care; Children; Fertility; Labor Supply; Maternal Employment; Mothers; Women

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study uses data from the NLSY 1979-1986 to examine trends in fertility, labor supply, and child care demand among a sample of young women. Generally, as the sample ages (from 21 to 25 years, on average), the women become increasingly more likely to have young children, to be employed, and to purchase child care in the market. A multivariate analysis reveals that rising wage rates and changes in household structure are the most important determinants of these upward trends. A hazard rate analysis reveals that the upward trends are not solely the result of entry into these states -- a considerable amount of exiting from these states also occurs. Overall, the panel data indicate that NLSY young women are in a volatile stage of their lives when many economic and demographic factors are changing, and that they seem to be responding to these changes by altering their labor supply and child care behavior.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. and Philip K. Robins. "Child Care Demand and Labor Supply of Young Mothers Over Time." Demography 28,3 (August 1991): 333-351.
11. Blau, David M.
Robins, Philip K.
Turnover in Child Care Arrangements
Review of Economics and Statistics 73,1 (February 1991): 152-157.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2109698
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Keyword(s): Child Care; Childbearing; Family Structure; Fertility; Household Structure; Job Turnover; Labor Force Participation; Marital Disruption; Marital Status; Maternal Employment; Urbanization/Urban Living

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper examines changes in child care arrangements for a sample of children over the first three years of life. Specifically examined was the dynamics of child care demand, i.e., the extent to which changes in child care arrangements were associated with changes in mothers' employment, marital status, and fertility. It was found that: (1) women of a higher socioeconomic status and older women were more likely to experience turnover in child care arrangements; (2) household structure impacted turnover with the presence of other children, particularly pre-school children, reducing child-care turnover; (3) child care turnover was not highly correlated with marital disruption or child bearing and was found to be lower in more densely populated urban areas. The paper concludes with a discussion of the authors' plans for future child care analyses.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. and Philip K. Robins. "Turnover in Child Care Arrangements." Review of Economics and Statistics 73,1 (February 1991): 152-157.
12. Blau, David M.
van der Klaauw, Wilbert
A Demographic Analysis of the Family Structure Experiences of Children in the United States
IZA Discussion Paper No. 3001, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), August 2007
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Child Support; Cohabitation; Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Divorce; Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); Family Structure; Fathers, Presence; Hispanics; Household Composition; Marital Status; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper provides the first comprehensive demographic analysis of the family structure experiences of children. Childbearing and transitions among co-residential union states defined by single, cohabiting, and married are analyzed jointly. A novel contribution is to distinguish men by their relationship to children: biological father or stepfather. This distinction is rarely made when analyzing union formation, but it is critical for understanding the family structure experiences of children. The analysis uses data from the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79). The results are used to address the following issues: (1) What fraction of their childhood do children spend with the biological father, stepfathers, and no father? (2) How do these fractions vary by the mother's marital status at the time of the child's birth and at the time of the child's conception? (3) How do the family structure experiences of the children of white, black, and Hispanic mothers differ, and what are the proximate demographic determinants of these differences? A key finding is that children of black mothers spend on average only 34.1% of their childhood living with the biological father and mother, compared to 72.8% for whites and 64.1% for Hispanics. The two most important proximate demographic determinants of this large racial gap are the much higher propensity of black women to conceive children outside of a union, and the lower rate of "shotgun" unions for blacks compared to whites and Hispanics. Another notable finding is that cohabitation plays a negligible role in the family structure experiences of children of white and Hispanic mothers, and even for children of black mothers accounts for only one fifth of time spent living with both biological parents. Finally, we find that children of black, Hispanic, and white mothers spend similar proportions of their lives with stepfathers present, but this similarity masks a much higher stepfather "turnover" rate among blacks, who are more likely than the other groups to experience a larger number of shorter spells with different stepfathers.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. and Wilbert van der Klaauw. "A Demographic Analysis of the Family Structure Experiences of Children in the United States." IZA Discussion Paper No. 3001, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), August 2007.
13. Blau, David M.
van der Klaauw, Wilbert
A Demographic Analysis of the Family Structure Experiences of Children in the United States
Review of Economics of the Household, 6,3 (September 2008): 193-221.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/j7l03486613rp142/
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Child Support; Childhood Residence; Cohabitation; Divorce; Family Structure; Fathers, Presence; Household Composition; Marital Status; Marriage; Residence; Wage Rates

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper analyzes the family structure experiences of children in the U.S. Childbearing and transitions among single, cohabiting, and married states are analyzed jointly. A novel contribution is to distinguish men by their relationship to children: biological father or stepfather. The analysis uses data from the NLSY79. A key finding is that children of black mothers spend on average only 33% of their childhood living with the biological father and mother, compared to 74% for children of white mothers. The two most important proximate demographic determinants of the large racial gap are the much higher propensity of black women to conceive children outside of a union, and the lower rate of "shotgun" unions for blacks compared to whites. Another notable finding is that cohabitation plays a negligible role in the family structure experiences of children of white mothers, and even for children of black mothers accounts for less than one fifth of time spent living with both biological parents.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. and Wilbert van der Klaauw. "A Demographic Analysis of the Family Structure Experiences of Children in the United States." Review of Economics of the Household, 6,3 (September 2008): 193-221.
14. Blau, David M.
van der Klaauw, Wilbert
The Impact of Social and Economic Policy on the Family Structure Experiences of Children in the United States
Presented: New York, NY, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March 29-31, 2007.
Also: http://paa2007.princeton.edu/abstractViewer.aspx?submissionId=70396
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Child Support; Cohabitation; Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Divorce; Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); Family Structure; Marital Status; Modeling; Taxes; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Wage Rates

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We analyze the determinants of family structure change. We consider the major proposed explanations for the dramatic changes in family structure in the U.S.: changes in (1) public assistance policy, child support enforcement, divorce laws, and tax laws; (2) labor market opportunities facing men and women; and (3) marriage market conditions. We model the behavior of women who make union and childbearing decisions, but we derive from the model the consequences of these decisions for the family structure experienced by children. We use panel data from the NLSY79 to analyze the fertility, union formation, union dissolution, type of union (cohabiting versus married), and father identity (biological versus step) choices of women born from 1957 to 1964. We use the estimated model to evaluate the impacts of changes in policies and labor and marriage market conditions on the family structure experiences of children growing up during the early 1970s through 2004.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. and Wilbert van der Klaauw. "The Impact of Social and Economic Policy on the Family Structure Experiences of Children in the United States." Presented: New York, NY, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March 29-31, 2007.
15. Blau, David M.
van der Klaauw, Wilbert
What Determines Family Structure?
IZA Discussion Paper No. 4912, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), April 2010.
Also: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1599010
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Keyword(s): Child Support; Childhood Residence; Cohabitation; Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Divorce; Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); Family Structure; Fathers, Presence; Hispanics; Household Composition; Marital Status; Residence; Wage Rates

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We estimate the effects of policy and labor market variables on the fertility, union formation and dissolution, type of union (cohabiting versus married), and partner choices of the NLSY79 cohort of women. These demographic behaviors interact to determine the family structure experienced by the children of these women: living with the biological mother and the married or cohabiting biological father, a married or cohabiting step father, or no man. We find that the average wage rates available to men and women have substantial effects on family structure for children of black and Hispanic mothers, but not for whites. The tax treatment of children also affects family structure. Implementation of welfare reform and passage of unilateral divorce laws had much smaller effects on family structure for the children of this cohort of women, as did changes in welfare benefits. The estimates imply that observed changes from the 1970s to the 2000s in the policy and labor market variables considered here contributed to a reduction in the proportion of time spent living without a father by children of the NLSY79 cohort of women. This suggests that the observed increase in this non-traditional family structure in the U.S. in the last three decades was caused by other factors.
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. and Wilbert van der Klaauw. "What Determines Family Structure?." IZA Discussion Paper No. 4912, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), April 2010.
16. Blau, David M.
van der Klaauw, Wilbert
What Determines Family Structure?
Economic Inquiry, 51,1 (January 2013): 579-604.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1465-7295.2010.00334.x/abstract
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Ethnic Differences; Family Structure; Racial Differences; Taxes; Wages; Welfare

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We use data from the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to estimate the effects of policy and labor market variables on the demographic behaviors that determine children's family structure experiences: union formation and dissolution, and fertility. Male and female wages have substantial effects on family structure for children of black and Hispanic mothers. The tax treatment of children also affects family structure. Welfare reform, welfare benefits, and unilateral divorce had much smaller effects on family structure for the children of this cohort of women. Trends in wages and tax rates explain only a small share of the observed changes in family structure in recent decades. (JEL J12)
Bibliography Citation
Blau, David M. and Wilbert van der Klaauw. "What Determines Family Structure?" Economic Inquiry, 51,1 (January 2013): 579-604.
17. van der Klaauw, Wilbert
Blau, David M.
Family Structure Dynamics and Child Outcomes
Presented: Chicago, IL, AEA Annual Meetings, January 2007.
Also: http://paa2007.princeton.edu/abstractViewer.aspx?submissionId=70396
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Child Support; Cohabitation; Current Population Survey (CPS) / CPS-Fertility Supplement; Divorce; Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); Family Structure; Marital Status; Modeling; Taxes; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Wage Rates

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We analyze the determinants of family structure change. We consider the major proposed explanations for the dramatic changes in family structure in the U.S.: changes in (1) public assistance policy, child support enforcement, divorce laws, and tax laws; (2) labor market opportunities facing men and women; and (3) marriage market conditions. We model the behavior of women who make union and childbearing decisions, but we derive from the model the consequences of these decisions for the family structure experienced by children. We use panel data from the NLSY79 to analyze the fertility, union formation, union dissolution, type of union (cohabiting versus married), and father identity (biological versus step) choices of women born from 1957 to1964. We use the estimated model to evaluate the impacts of changes in policies and labor and marriage market conditions on the family structure experiences of children growing up during the early 1970s through 2004.
Bibliography Citation
van der Klaauw, Wilbert and David M. Blau. "Family Structure Dynamics and Child Outcomes." Presented: Chicago, IL, AEA Annual Meetings, January 2007.