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Source: Heritage Foundation, The
Resulting in 18 citations.
1. Antonelli, Angela
One Percent Budget Showdown: Clinton's Veto Threats In Perspective
Backgrounder #1224 Report, The Heritage Foundation, October 7, 1998.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/BG1224.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Academic Development; Family Background and Culture; Head Start; I.Q.; Mothers, Education

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

This paper argues against President Clinton's 1998 budgetary veto threat. In arguing in favor of the smaller budget bill, the author advocates using NLSY79 data to evaluate the effectiveness of the Head Start program. Specifically, she proposed that NLSY79 data should be used to study "a wide range of outcomes, including cognitive, socio-emotional, behavioral, and academic development, while controlling for such factors as family background and the mother's IQ and level of education."
Bibliography Citation
Antonelli, Angela. "One Percent Budget Showdown: Clinton's Veto Threats In Perspective." Backgrounder #1224 Report, The Heritage Foundation, October 7, 1998.
2. Fagan, Patrick F.
Family and Faith: The Roots of Prosperity, Stability and Freedom
Working Paper, The Heritage Foundation, WebMemo 1, March 21, 2000.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/WM1.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Income Level; Religion; Sexual Activity

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

Fagan's WebMemo on the detrimental impacts resulting from the deterioration of the family and the "Culture of Rejection and Alienation" cites NLSY79 data to show that "religious worship by men in their twenties has quite an impact on their capacity to sustain their own virginity." Additionally, NLSY79 data is used to support a correlation between young men's church attendance and income levels achieved later in life. Fagan concludes that "the highest income group consisted of young men who were raised in intact families that worshipped weekly."
Bibliography Citation
Fagan, Patrick F. "Family and Faith: The Roots of Prosperity, Stability and Freedom." Working Paper, The Heritage Foundation, WebMemo 1, March 21, 2000.
3. Fagan, Patrick F.
The Child Abuse Crisis: The Disintegration of Marriage, Family, and the American Community
Backgrounder #1115 Report, The Heritage Foundation, May 15, 1997.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/BG1115.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Children, Well-Being; Marriage; Parents, Single

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

This article links single parent households and out of wedlock births to incidents of child abuse. NLSY79 data is cited as establishing that the absence of stable marriages result in problems concerning health, education, drug use, welfare dependency, crime, and job success and that these negative effects are "compounding from generation to generation."
Bibliography Citation
Fagan, Patrick F. "The Child Abuse Crisis: The Disintegration of Marriage, Family, and the American Community." Backgrounder #1115 Report, The Heritage Foundation, May 15, 1997.
4. Fagan, Patrick F.
The Real Root Causes of Violent Crime: The Breakdown of Marriage, Family, and Community
Backgrounder #1026 Report, The Heritage Foundation, March 17, 1995.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Crime/BG1026.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Crime; Marriage; Parents, Single

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

This paper analyzes the connection between single parent families and incidents of youth involvement in violent crime. Merry Morash's study of NLSY79 data is cited, specifically her findings that "[The] mother's [young] age is related to delinquency primarily through its association with low hopes for education, negative school experiences, father absence, and limited monitoring of the child."
Bibliography Citation
Fagan, Patrick F. "The Real Root Causes of Violent Crime: The Breakdown of Marriage, Family, and Community." Backgrounder #1026 Report, The Heritage Foundation, March 17, 1995.
5. Fagan, Patrick F.
Why Religion Matters
Working Paper, The Heritage Foundation, January 25, 1996.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Religion/BG1064.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Religion; Religious Influences; Sexual Activity; Sexual Experiences/Virginity

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

This paper on the positive effects of religious practices cites studies of NLSY79 data indicating that the absence of religious practices leads to higher incidents of premarital sex. Also cited are studies indicating that poor families that practice a religion have higher income levels than those who do not.
Bibliography Citation
Fagan, Patrick F. "Why Religion Matters." Working Paper, The Heritage Foundation, January 25, 1996.
6. Fagan, Thomas
Encouraging Marriage and Discouraging Divorce
Backgrounder #1421 Report, The Heritage Foundation, March 26, 2001.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/BG1421.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Children; Crime; Fathers, Absence; Fathers, Biological; Fathers, Influence; Marriage; Parents, Single

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

This paper argues that marriage is more successful than government programs in preventing and treating social ills and that children in married families are "healthier, perform better in school, and are involved less frequently in crime or other destructive behavior." The criminality argument is evidenced by Harper and McLanahan's study of NLSY79 data which found that children who grew up without their biological father in the home were roughly three times more likely to commit a crime that led to incarceration than were children from intact families.
Bibliography Citation
Fagan, Thomas. "Encouraging Marriage and Discouraging Divorce." Backgrounder #1421 Report, The Heritage Foundation, March 26, 2001.
7. Feulner, Edwin J.
Altared States
Working Paper, The Heritage Foundation, August 26, 2002.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/ed082602b.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Children, Poverty; Education; Marriage; Parents, Single; Poverty

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

This opinion piece argues in favor of President Bush proposal to fund a program encouraging unwed welfare recipients to marry. The author argues that marriage is more effective than maternal education in lifting children out of poverty, and buttresses the claim with Rector and Johnson's study of NLSY79 data. Specifically, their study finds that children raised by never-married mothers are nine times more likely to live in poverty than children raised by two parents in an intact marriage and that the poverty levels of children raised by never-married mothers remain high even if the mother has a high school or college degree.
Bibliography Citation
Feulner, Edwin J. "Altared States." Working Paper, The Heritage Foundation, August 26, 2002.
8. Pardue, Melissa
In Defense of Marriage
The Heritage Foundation, June 30, 2003.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed070203a.cfm
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Children, Well-Being; Marriage

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

This opinion piece argues in favor of President Bush's proposal to fund marriage-skills education programs by iterating socio-economic benefits of marriage. A Heritage Foundation analysis of NLSY79 data showing that a "stable marriage dramatically improves the emotional well being of children" is cited. Also appears July 02, 2003, THe Fox New Channel: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,90770,00.html.
Bibliography Citation
Pardue, Melissa. "In Defense of Marriage." The Heritage Foundation, June 30, 2003.
9. Rector, Robert
Reforming Food Stamps to Promote Work and Reduce Poverty and Dependence
Washington, DC, Testimony on Welfare and Welfare Spending and Poverty and Inequality, The Heritage Foundation, June 27, 2001.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/Test062701.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Employment; Food Stamps (see Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program); Welfare; Work Ethic

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

This testimony argues against the validity of status quo Food Stamp programs. Rector uses NLSY79 data to show that such programs promote long-term dependence and negatively impact work ethic. Specifically, he finds that only 1.4 percent of Food Stamp spending went to households which received aid for 6 months or less, less than 10 percent of Food Stamp expenditures went to individuals who received aid for two years or less, and over 90 percent of Food Stamp aid went to households that received aid for more than two years.
Bibliography Citation
Rector, Robert. "Reforming Food Stamps to Promote Work and Reduce Poverty and Dependence." Washington, DC, Testimony on Welfare and Welfare Spending and Poverty and Inequality, The Heritage Foundation, June 27, 2001.
10. Rector, Robert
The Effects of Welfare Reform
Washington, DC, Testimony: The Heritage Foundation, March 15, 2001.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/Test031501b.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Bias Decomposition; Child Development; Children, Poverty; Marital Status; Motherhood; Poverty; Welfare

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

Summary

The intention of Welfare programs is to benefit low income Americans, especially children. Yet the evidence indicates that children and parents are actively harmed rather than helped by welfare.

Nearly all Welfare aid for children goes to single parent households. But current research indicates that both Welfare dependence and single parenthood have significant deleterious effects on children's development, impeding their ability to become successful members of mainstream society.

Bibliography Citation
Rector, Robert. "The Effects of Welfare Reform." Washington, DC, Testimony: The Heritage Foundation, March 15, 2001.
11. Rector, Robert
Why Congress Must Reform Welfare
Backgrounder #1063 Report, The Heritage Foundation, December 4, 1995.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/BG1063.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Childbearing, Premarital/Nonmarital; Crime; Parents, Single; Public Housing; Welfare

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

This paper argues against the status quo welfare system and advocates its reform. A Heritage Foundation analysis of NLSY79 data is cited as proof of welfare's detrimental impact on youth. Specifically, the Heritage Foundation study states that boys raised in single-parent households receiving public housing aid are five times more likely to engage in criminal activity and young girls raised in single-parent homes in public housing are five times more likely to bear children out of wedlock.
Bibliography Citation
Rector, Robert. "Why Congress Must Reform Welfare." Backgrounder #1063 Report, The Heritage Foundation, December 4, 1995.
12. Rector, Robert
Fagan, Patrick F.
How Welfare Harms Kids
Backgrounder #1084 Report, The Heritage Foundation, June 5, 1996.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/BG1084.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Children; Crime; Marriage; Parents, Single; Sexual Activity; Welfare

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

Rector and Fagan argue that welfare policies, which were ostensibly implemented to help children, actually harm children more than poverty itself, resulting in increased welfare dependence and out of wedlock births. Studies of NLSY79 data are cited to evidence claims that black men born to single parent families are twice as likely to engage in criminal activity and that children born out of wedlock are twice as likely to be sexual active teenagers than "legitimate" children born to married couples.
Bibliography Citation
Rector, Robert and Patrick F. Fagan. "How Welfare Harms Kids." Backgrounder #1084 Report, The Heritage Foundation, June 5, 1996.
13. Rector, Robert
Johnson, Kirk A.
Effects of Marriage and Maternal Education in Reducing Child Poverty
Center for Data Analysis Report #02-05, Heritage Foundation, August 2002.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/cda02-05.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Children; Children, Poverty; Marital Status; Marriage; Mothers, Education; Mothers, Income; Poverty

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

Utilizing National Longitudinal Survey data, Rector and Johnson's study finds that marital status has a stronger impact on child poverty than maternal education.

One of the four principal goals of the welfare reform of 1996 was to increase married two-parent families. The current welfare reform proposals advanced by President George W. Bush and recently enacted by the House of Representatives (H.R. 4737) include specific policies aimed at encouraging healthy marriages. Supporters of this approach contend that an increase in healthy marriages will improve child well-being and reduce child poverty. Opponents argue that there is little or no link between increasing marriage and reducing poverty. They argue that the government should ignore the issue of marriage and should focus instead on increasing maternal education as the primary means of combating child poverty.

Given this policy context, this Heritage Foundation Center for Data Analysis Report examines two questions: Is marriage effective in reducing child poverty? What is the comparative effect of marriage and maternal education in combating child poverty? Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the CDA analysis produced the following findings:

  • Marriage plays a powerful role in lifting children out of poverty.
  • While both marriage and maternal education play a positive role in alleviating child poverty, in general, stable marriage has a far stronger effect than does maternal schooling.

Maternal education without marriage is generally ineffective in reducing child poverty. The poverty levels of children raised by never-married mothers remain high even if the mother has a high-school or college degree.

Bibliography Citation
Rector, Robert and Kirk A. Johnson. "Effects of Marriage and Maternal Education in Reducing Child Poverty." Center for Data Analysis Report #02-05, Heritage Foundation, August 2002.
14. Rector, Robert
Johnson, Kirk A.
Fagan, Patrick F.
Understanding Differences in Black and White Child Poverty Rates
Report #CDA01-04. Washington DC: The Heritage Foundation, May 2001.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/library/cda/cda01-04.html
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Poverty; Regions; Welfare

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

EXCERPT FROM INTRODUCTION: High rates of child poverty in the United States are a continuing concern. The fact that poverty is considerably more common among black children than it is among white children has intensified this concern. In 1999, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, 33.1 percent of black children lived in poverty compared with 13.5 percent of white children.1

This CDA Report attempts to identify the primary causes of child poverty in the United States, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a representative sample of Americans produced by the U.S. Department of Labor.2 We also examine the differences in black and white child poverty and seek to uncover the causes of those differences.

Bibliography Citation
Rector, Robert, Kirk A. Johnson and Patrick F. Fagan. Understanding Differences in Black and White Child Poverty Rates. Report #CDA01-04. Washington DC: The Heritage Foundation, May 2001..
15. Rector, Robert
Youssef, Sarah E.
Determinants of Welfare Caseload Decline
Report #99-04, Center for Data Analysis. Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation, May 11, 1999.
Also: http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/1999/pdf/cda99-04.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Economic Changes/Recession; Employment; I.Q.; Parents, Single; Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Welfare

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

This paper argues that welfare reform, not strong economic growth, has produced declining welfare caseloads and that the more stringent the sanctioning practices, the greater the declines. Hill and O'Neil's studies of National Longitudinal Survey data are cited to buttress claims that welfare is more detrimental to children than poverty. The first study of NLSY79 data cited found that children of welfare recipients were 50% more likely to have a child out of wedlock. The second study of NLSY79 and Children of the NLSY79 data found that the longer a child spends in the welfare system, the lower his or her IQ compared with children who are identical in race, income, and other social and economic factors. Specifically, "O'Neill and Hill found that those who had spent at least two months of each year, since birth, on AFDC had cognitive abilities 20 percent below the cognitive abilities of those who had received no welfare--even after holding constant such variables as family income, race, and parental IQ."
Bibliography Citation
Rector, Robert and Sarah E. Youssef. Determinants of Welfare Caseload Decline. Report #99-04, Center for Data Analysis. Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation, May 11, 1999..
16. Shokraii, Nina H.
Rector, Robert
After 33 Years and $30 Billion, Time to Find Out if Head Start Produces Results
Backgrounder #1202 Report, The Heritage Foundation, July 15, 1998.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/BG1202.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Head Start

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

This paper argues that the effectiveness of the Head Start program has been insufficiently studied and calls for its evaluation using NLSY data. The NLSY study would examine a wide range of outcomes, including cognitive, socio-emotional, behavioral, and academic development, while controlling for such factors as family background, the mother's intelligence quotient (IQ), and the mother's level of education. The authors note that there is a tendency on the part of NLSY parents to overstate the attendance of their children in Head Start and ask that the researchers adjust the data accordingly.
Bibliography Citation
Shokraii, Nina H. and Robert Rector. "After 33 Years and $30 Billion, Time to Find Out if Head Start Produces Results." Backgrounder #1202 Report, The Heritage Foundation, July 15, 1998.
17. Sturgeon, Samuel Woolley
The Relationship Between Family Structure and Adolescent Sexual Activity
Special Report No 1, FamilyFacts.org, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC, November 2008.
Also: http://www.familyfacts.org/featuredfinding/ff_01.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY97, Young Women
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Adolescent Sexual Activity; Age at First Birth; Contraception; Family Structure; Household Structure; Pregnancy, Adolescent

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

This paper provides a systematic review of the research literature examining the relationship between family structure and adolescent sexual activity. Adolescents from intact family structures tend to delay sexual initiation until a significantly older age than their peers from non-intact family backgrounds. Adolescents from intact families are less likely to have ever had sexual intercourse, have had on average fewer sexual partners, are less likely to report a sexually transmitted disease, and are less likely to have ever experienced a pregnancy or live birth when compared to their peers from non-intact families. However, the effects of family structure on all adolescent sexual outcomes other than sexual debut tend to operate primarily through the delay in sexual debut experienced by adolescents from intact families. Age, race, and gender differences are discussed, as well as methodological challenges associated with the study of family structure and adolescent sexual outcomes.
Bibliography Citation
Sturgeon, Samuel Woolley. "The Relationship Between Family Structure and Adolescent Sexual Activity." Special Report No 1, FamilyFacts.org, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC, November 2008.
18. Wilson, Mark
Shokraii, Nina H.
Antonelli, Angela
Labor-Health-Education Appropriations: Eliminating Waste and Enhancing Accountability
Backgrounder #1212 Report, The Heritage Foundation, August 7, 1998.
Also: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Labor/BG1212.cfm
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: The Heritage Foundation
Keyword(s): Head Start

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

This paper argues against maintaining or increasing funding for a myriad of federal programs such as Low-Income Home Energy Assistance, Bilingual Education, OSHA, and Federal Regional Education Laboratories. Additionally, the authors advocate that Congress should use NLSY data to evaluate the effectiveness of the Head Start program across a wide range of outcomes (e.g. cognitive, socio-emotional, behavioral, and academic development of its participants) while controlling for such factors as family background and the mother's IQ and level of education.
Bibliography Citation
Wilson, Mark, Nina H. Shokraii and Angela Antonelli. "Labor-Health-Education Appropriations: Eliminating Waste and Enhancing Accountability." Backgrounder #1212 Report, The Heritage Foundation, August 7, 1998.