Search Results

Source: Georgetown University -- Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Hendey, Leah
Indirect Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit on Teen Pregnancy
M.A Thesis, Georgetown University, 2006.
Also: https://www.library.georgetown.edu/reserves/etd/etd_lmh38.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Georgetown University
Keyword(s): Age at Birth; Age at First Intercourse; Age at Menarche/First Menstruation; Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Birth Order; Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); Endogeneity; Household Composition; Labor Force Participation; Maternal Employment; Pregnancy, Adolescent

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

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 (NLSY79) and the NLSY79 Young Adult Survey, this thesis examines the influence of maternal employment on teen pregnancy. It attempts to control for the endogeneity of maternal employment by using the variation across time and states in the amount of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for which a mother is eligible along with other instrumental variables. I find that EITC positively impacts both annual hours worked and annual labor force participation. When endogeneity is controlled for a 1,000 hour increase in maternal annual hours worked decreases the risk of teen pregnancy by 15.94 percent, on average, and maternal annual labor force participation reduces the risk of teen pregnancy by 21.50 percent, on average. These results imply that public policies with work incentives may have positive indirect effects and that EITC may be an appropriate instrumental variable to estimate the impact of maternal employment on other outcomes of well-being.
Bibliography Citation
Hendey, Leah. Indirect Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit on Teen Pregnancy. M.A Thesis, Georgetown University, 2006..
2. Rahal, Ramy T.
The Impact Of Divorce on the Likelihood of Graduating from High School by Age 20
Master's Thesis, Georgetown University, April 2013
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Georgetown University
Keyword(s): Divorce; Educational Aspirations/Expectations; Family Income; Fathers, Involvement; High School Completion/Graduates; Marital Dissolution; Marital Instability; Mothers, Education; Parent-Child Interaction

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

Research has shown negative associations between marital instability and success metrics among children of such families. Among the negative academic outcomes is an increased rate of high school dropout among children of divorced and separated parents (Astone, McLanahan, 1991). This paper seeks to determine whether children who experience marital disruption are less likely to graduate from high school than their counterparts whose biological parents remain married.

This study uses a prospective design, only including children whose parents were married at the time of the child’s birth and who remained married at the child’s outset of high school. Using data from the 1979 version of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) and the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult Supplement, I ran a series of probit models to estimate the effects of parental divorce during a child’s high school years on the likelihood of that child graduating from high school by the age of 20. The age limit of 20, rather than within four years, diminishes the problem of right-censorship.

Children whose parents divorce during the four years after the normal start of high school are over 9 percentage points less likely to graduate from high school by age 20 than their peers (p<0.05). These findings suggest that a reduction in the rate of divorce may lead to subsequent increase in the incidence of high school graduation. In turn, this ought to lead to improvements in adulthood outcomes for children, including increased earnings potential and improved overall health. The benefits to society may include increased tax revenue, decreased spending on social safety- net programs, and reduced crime rates.

Bibliography Citation
Rahal, Ramy T. The Impact Of Divorce on the Likelihood of Graduating from High School by Age 20. Master's Thesis, Georgetown University, April 2013.
3. Wintfield, Jessica
Children of Incarcerated Mothers: The Effect of Maternal Incarceration on Child Cognitive, Behavioral and Educational Outcomes
Master's Thesis, Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Georgetown University, 2008
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Georgetown Public Policy Institute
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Delinquency/Gang Activity; GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; High School Completion/Graduates; High School Diploma; Incarceration/Jail; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading)

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

As has been documented, the growing prison population in the United States has increased the number of children who are growing up with a parent in jail or prison. The effect of parental incarceration and maternal incarceration specifically, may be particularly detrimental to child development due to the instability and social stigma that is attached to this particular cause for a parent’s absence from the home. To more fully understand the impact maternal incarceration has on the child, I use the NLSY79 and the associated Child and Young Adult Survey to investigate the effect, if any, of maternal incarceration on the inmate’s child’s cognitive outcomes, behavior and educational attainment. The results of the investigation, however, are largely inconclusive and lead me to suggest that better data collection must be focused on incarcerated women and their children.
Bibliography Citation
Wintfield, Jessica. Children of Incarcerated Mothers: The Effect of Maternal Incarceration on Child Cognitive, Behavioral and Educational Outcomes. Master's Thesis, Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Georgetown University, 2008.