8,810 research outputs found
The increasing happiness of US parents
Previous research suggests that parents may be less happy than non-parents. We critically assess the literature and examine parentsâ and non-parentsâ happiness-trends using the General Social Survey (N = 42,298) and DDB Lifestyle Survey (N = 75,237). We find that parents are becoming happier over time relative to non-parents, that non-parentsâ happiness is declining absolutely, and that estimates of the parental happiness gap are sensitive to the time-period analyzed. These results are consistent across two datasets, most subgroups, and various specifications. Finally, we present evidence that suggests children appear to protect parents against social and economic forces that may be reducing happiness among non-parents
Child Care Subsidies, Maternal Well-Being, and Child-Parent Interactions: Evidence from Three Nationally Representative Datasets
A complete account of the U.S. child care subsidy system requires an understanding of its implications for both parental and child well-being. Although the effects of child care subsidies on maternal employment and child development have been recently studied, many other dimensions of family well-being have received little attention. This paper attempts to fill this gap by examining the impact of child care subsidy receipt on maternal health and the quality of child-parent interactions. The empirical analyses use data from three nationally representative surveys, providing access to numerous measures of family well-being. In addition, we attempt to handle the possibility of non-random selection into subsidy receipt by using several identification strategies both within and across the surveys. Our results consistently indicate that child care subsidies are associated with worse maternal health and poorer interactions between parents and their children. In particular, subsidized mothers report lower levels of overall health and are more likely to show symptoms consistent with anxiety, depression, and parenting stress. Such mothers also reveal more psychological and physical aggression toward their children and are more likely to utilize spanking as a disciplinary tool. Together, these findings suggest that work-based public policies aimed at economically disadvantaged mothers may ultimately undermine family well-being.
The Geographic Accessibility of Child Care Subsidies and Evidence on the Impact of Subsidy Receipt on Childhood Obesity
This paper examines the impact of the spatial accessibility of public human services agencies on the likelihood of receiving a child care subsidy among disadvantaged mothers with young children. In particular, we collect data on the location of virtually every human services agency in the U.S. and use this information to calculate the approximate distance that families must travel from home in order to reach the nearest office that administers the subsidy application process. Using data from the Kindergarten cohort of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), our results indicate that an increase in the distance to a public human services agency reduces the likelihood that a family receives a child care subsidy. Specifically, we estimate an elasticity of subsidy receipt with respect to distance of -0.13. The final section of the paper provides an empirical application in which we use variation in families' travel distance to identify the causal effect of child care subsidies on children's weight outcomes. Our instrumental variables estimates suggest that subsidized child care leads to sizeable increases in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among low-income children.child care, subsidy, obesity
Do large rate coefficients for ion-polar neutral reactions have a serious effect on chemical models of dense clouds?
In order to incorporate large ion-polar neutral rate coefficients into existing gas phase reaction networks, it is necessary to utilize simplified theoretical treatments because of the significant number of rate coefficients needed. The authors have used two simple theoretical treatments: the locked dipole approach of Moran and Hamill for linear polar neutrals and the trajectory scaling approach of Su and Chesnavich for nonlinear polar neutrals. The former approach is suitable for linear species because in the interstellar medium these are rotationally relaxed to a large extent and the incoming charged reactants can lock their dipoles into the lowest energy configuration. The latter approach is a better approximation for nonlinear neutral species, in which rotational relaxation is normally less severe and the incoming charged reactants are not as effective at locking the dipoles. The treatments are in reasonable agreement with more detailed long range theories and predict an inverse square root dependence on kinetic temperature for the rate coefficient. Compared with the locked dipole method, the trajectory scaling approach results in rate coefficients smaller by a factor of approximately 2.5
Child Care Subsidies and Child Development
Child care subsidies are an important part of federal and state efforts to move welfare recipients into employment. One of the criticisms of the current subsidy system, however, is that it overemphasizes work and does little to encourage parents to purchase high-quality child care. Consequently, there are reasons to be concerned about the implications of child care subsidies for child development. In this paper, we provide a systematic assessment of the impact of subsidy receipt on a wide range of child outcomes. Drawing on rich data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, we document a negative relationship between child care subsidies and child development. In particular, our results suggest that subsidy receipt in the year before kindergarten lowers reading and math test scores and increases a variety of behavior problems at kindergarten entry. Some of these negative effects persist to the end of kindergarten. A tentative explanation for the poorer outcomes is that subsidized children are more likely to receive intense exposure to low-quality child care.child development, subsidy, child care
The Impact of Child Care Subsidies on Child Well-Being: Evidence from Geographic Variation in the Distance to Social Service Agencies
In recent years, child care subsidies have become an integral part of federal and state efforts to move economically disadvantaged parents from welfare to work. Although previous empirical studies consistently show that these employment-related subsidies raise work levels among this group, little is known about the impact of subsidy receipt on child well-being. In this paper, we identify the causal effect of child care subsidies on child development by exploiting geographic variation in the distance that families must travel from home in order to reach the nearest social service agency that administers the subsidy application process. Using data from the Kindergarten cohort of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, our instrumental variables estimates suggest that children receiving subsidized care in the year before kindergarten score lower on tests of cognitive ability and reveal more behavior problems throughout kindergarten. However, these negative effects largely disappear by the time children reach the end of third grade. Our results point to an unintended consequence of a child care subsidy regime that conditions eligibility on parental employment and deemphasizes child care quality.development, subsidy, child care
Gas-grain chemistry in cold interstellar cloud cores with a microscopic Monte Carlo approach to surface chemistry
AIM: We have recently developed a microscopic Monte Carlo approach to study
surface chemistry on interstellar grains and the morphology of ice mantles. The
method is designed to eliminate the problems inherent in the rate-equation
formalism to surface chemistry. Here we report the first use of this method in
a chemical model of cold interstellar cloud cores that includes both gas-phase
and surface chemistry. The surface chemical network consists of a small number
of diffusive reactions that can produce molecular oxygen, water, carbon
dioxide, formaldehyde, methanol and assorted radicals. METHOD: The simulation
is started by running a gas-phase model including accretion onto grains but no
surface chemistry or evaporation. The starting surface consists of either flat
or rough olivine. We introduce the surface chemistry of the three species H, O
and CO in an iterative manner using our stochastic technique. Under the
conditions of the simulation, only atomic hydrogen can evaporate to a
significant extent. Although it has little effect on other gas-phase species,
the evaporation of atomic hydrogen changes its gas-phase abundance, which in
turn changes the flux of atomic hydrogen onto grains. The effect on the surface
chemistry is treated until convergence occurs. We neglect all non-thermal
desorptive processes. RESULTS: We determine the mantle abundances of assorted
molecules as a function of time through 2x10^5 yr. Our method also allows
determination of the abundance of each molecule in specific monolayers. The
mantle results can be compared with observations of water, carbon dioxide,
carbon monoxide, and methanol ices in the sources W33A and Elias 16. Other than
a slight underproduction of mantle CO, our results are in very good agreement
with observations.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, to be published in A. &
Boundary states, matrix factorisations and correlation functions for the E-models
The open string spectra of the B-type D-branes of the N=2 E-models are
calculated. Using these results we match the boundary states to the matrix
factorisations of the corresponding Landau-Ginzburg models. The identification
allows us to calculate specific terms in the effective brane superpotential of
E_6 using conformal field theory methods, thereby enabling us to test results
recently obtained in this context.Comment: 20 pages, no figure
Why do Local Unemployment Rates in Poland Vary so Much?
Unemployment continues to bedevil Poland, albeit with striking sub-national differences, which this paper seeks to explain using random effects error component two-stage estimation for the country's NUTS 4 level powiats. Given the economy's peculiar configuration under communism, with its large private agricultural sector, emphasis is placed on rural-urban differences. While less densely populated areas do suffer higher unemployment rates, the effect is moderated by hidden unemployment in farming. On the other hand, powiats that housed the ex-state farms suffer a negative long-term legacy. Other notable results include an evident positive impact of foreign capital on local labour market fortunes.
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