Welfare | Welfare Causes an Increase in Out-of-Wedlock Births

In the following viewpoint, Michael Tanner and David B. Kopel contend that welfare payments have removed a major incentive for poor women to avoid unmarried pregnancy by cushioning the economic hardship of out-of-wedlock childbearing. According to Tanner and Kopel, surveys of innercity teenage girls reveal carefree attitudes toward having babies out of wedlock, attributable to the availability of welfare. In addition, studies have demonstrated a link between an increase in welfare benefits and a corresponding increase in births to unmarried low-income women, as cited by the authors....

[The entire page is 2072 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the: