Minor Mothers' Living Arrangements and School Enrollment following Welfare Reform

Heather L. Koball, Columbia University

The 1996 welfare reform laws required parents who were under the age of 18 to live with their parents and to remain enrolled in school in order to be eligible for welfare benefits. These welfare reform policies were implemented with little knowledge of the actual effects on minor parents. This paper will use a diference-in-difference analysis technique to examine whether living with parents and school enrollment increased among minor mothers following welfare reform.