Volume 1.1 - Election Issues -
Fall 1996
Title: The Cost and Consequences of Teenage Childbearing for Mothers
and the Government
Authors: V. Joseph Hotz, Susan Williams, Seth G. Sanders
Editors Note: Over the last year, recent public anxiety towards
increased government spending, rising government debt and growing dissatisfaction
with the current welfare system produced a base for reform. This reform
included cost-saving proposals to address the public's discontentment with
perceived dependency and the swelling AFDC-supported ranks of teenage mothers.
Proposed to both cut costs and simultaneously target a worsening social
concern, the recently passed reform bill incorporates incentives for states
to reduce their rates of teen pregnancy.
Reduction of teenage pregnancy rates is believed
to translate into smaller AFDC caseloads and lower costs. This is one
rationale states have used to institute "family cap" laws that
block additional aid for women who become pregnant while receiving public
benefits. Though the federal welfare bill does not contain a family cap
provision, it does contain incentives for states to reduce rates of illegitimacy.
Research has not proven conclusively that reducing illegitimacy and teenage
childbearing will reduce costs to the taxpayer.
This article examines teenage mothers and finds no significant effect on
their earnings over time. Extending this analysis to apply to the probability
that these mothers would require public aid, the authors cast doubt on any
substantial savings in social costs from decreases in rates of teenage childbearing.
About the Authors:
V. Joseph Hotz is a Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, University
of Chicago; Seth G. Sanders and Susan Williams McElroy are Professors at
the Heinz Graduate School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon
University.
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