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Author: Mosley, Jane Marie
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Mosley, Jane Marie
When Is a Dollar Not a Dollar? Income Sources and Child Well-Being
Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1997
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Behavior; Children, Behavioral Development; Children, Well-Being; Cognitive Ability; Family Income; Family Studies; Income Level; Welfare

Since there is a well documented relationship between income level and child well-being, my goal in this dissertation was to more thoroughly examine how family income might affect children. To do that, I investigated the relationship between income sources, income stability and child well-being. It could be that where income comes from, or how stable it is, may have different effects on children than income level. Additionally, these two factors, source and stability, may be more amenable to social policy. In the current political climate, increasing family incomes may not be a realistic option. However, it might be possible to offer more institutional supports for certain sources, if they were shown to be more beneficial for children. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Mother Child Supplement, I examined six different dimensions of child well-being: (1) aggressive behavior, (2) anxious behavior, (3) cognitive ability, reading (4) cognitive ability, math (5) global self-es teem and (6) academic self-esteem. It is important to note that the relationship between both source and stability often differed depending on which dependent variable I examined. I find that any effects of source of income are primarily due to unobserved differences between families who receive certain sources and families who do not. It is these differences that result in different levels of well-being among children, not the source of family income. Thus, all else equal, changing where families receive income will not have an effect on how children fare.
Bibliography Citation
Mosley, Jane Marie. When Is a Dollar Not a Dollar? Income Sources and Child Well-Being. Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1997.