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Author: Groves, Lincoln
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Groves, Lincoln
Three Essays on U.S. Social Policy's Impact on the Human Capital Development of Young Adults At-Risk of Poverty
Ph.D. Dissertation, Depart of Public Administration, Syracuse University, 2015
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT)
Keyword(s): Disadvantaged, Economically; Educational Attainment; Program Participation/Evaluation; Social Security

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

My final dissertation chapter investigates how a particular college fund guarantee affected achievements in higher education. Utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979) and a difference-in-differences model, this work re-examines the impact of the Social Security Student Benefits Program (SSSBP) on post-secondary educational attainment, a topic first studied by Dynarski (2003). By exploiting a larger panel of data and exploring degree attainment at various ages, my coauthor and I find that disadvantaged youth potentially qualifying for SSSBP funds - e.g., those losing a father before they turned 18 - were over 20 pp more likely to obtain higher education degrees beyond their high school diploma than similar students who would have qualified for benefits, but-for the program's termination in May 1982. Initial program impacts - i.e., those by age 23 - show an increase in Associate's degree attainment. As these respondents age, however, many go on to obtain four year degrees. Impacts are large and statistically significant, and suggestive that social programs seeking to reduce the financial costs of Associate's degrees - such as the one announced by President Obama in his 2015 State of the Union Address - could be well-targeted.
Bibliography Citation
Groves, Lincoln. Three Essays on U.S. Social Policy's Impact on the Human Capital Development of Young Adults At-Risk of Poverty. Ph.D. Dissertation, Depart of Public Administration, Syracuse University, 2015.
2. Groves, Lincoln
Lopoo, Leonard M.
Federal Financial Aid and Family Formation: Examining the Social Security Student Benefit Program
Journal of Family and Economic Issues 39,3 (September 2018): 436-444.
Also: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10834-018-9568-5
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Age at First Marriage; Benefits, Disability; Family Formation; Financial Assistance; Program Participation/Evaluation; Social Security

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

A broad empirical literature asks if social policies designed to provide benefits to low-income families also affect family formation patterns. While most of the evidence suggests that family formation effects are small at best, and often nonexistent, recent research argues that policies that alter budget constraints considerably should have greater family formation impacts. We tested this hypothesis by investigating the Social Security Student Benefit Program (SSSBP), a program designed to provide large higher education subsidies for the children of disabled, retired, or deceased parents. Conditions for receipt of SSSBP created strong incentives to delay marriage. Utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979, and a difference-in-differences model, we found that women potentially qualifying for the SSSBP were much less likely to marry before age 22 and were older when they had children, while the program did not influence the probability of women ever marrying or having children. Impacts on men, however, were negligible.
Bibliography Citation
Groves, Lincoln and Leonard M. Lopoo. "Federal Financial Aid and Family Formation: Examining the Social Security Student Benefit Program." Journal of Family and Economic Issues 39,3 (September 2018): 436-444.
3. Groves, Lincoln
Lopoo, Leonard M.
Federal Financial Aid, Educational Attainment, and Family Formation: Re-Examining the Social Security Student Benefit Program
Presented: Miami FL, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Annual Fall Research Conference, November 12-14, 2015
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM)
Keyword(s): Educational Attainment; Family Formation; Financial Assistance; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Program Participation/Evaluation

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

Using the NLSY79 and a difference-in-differences model, our preliminary results show that the SSSB [Social Security Student Benefit] program had no overall effect on the educational attainment of recipients. However, these initial results do not consider the distributional effects of the program. Additional analyses show that the elimination of the program for individuals aged 18 to 22 created large reductions in the likelihood of Associate's degree receipt. In contrast, the benefits had small and statistically insignificant effects on earning a Bachelor's degree. We test the robustness of our result using similar cohorts from the PSID, and our results are consistent with those found in the NLSY79.
Bibliography Citation
Groves, Lincoln and Leonard M. Lopoo. "Federal Financial Aid, Educational Attainment, and Family Formation: Re-Examining the Social Security Student Benefit Program." Presented: Miami FL, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Annual Fall Research Conference, November 12-14, 2015.