Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series Database (1984 - 2010)

Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 22/2008

The Dynamics of Welfare Participation among Women Who Experienced Teenage Motherhood in Australia

by

Sung-Hee Jeon, Guyonne Kalb and Ha Vu

Date: November 2008

Abstract: This study examines whether the factors that determine the welfare participation of women who experienced teenage motherhood differ from the factors that determine the welfare participation of women who had their first child at an older age. We examine these factors across the lifetimes of both groups of women. A dynamic random effects probit model is applied to investigate the extent of state dependence in welfare participation while allowing for observed and unobserved individual heterogeneity. We find evidence of state dependence for all women, but it is stronger for women who experienced teenage childbearing than for women who had a child at an older age. In addition, poor health is an important factor in increasing the probability of the welfare participation of women who experienced teenage childbearing.

 

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