01788nas a2200169 4500008004100000020001400041245011900055210006900174260000900243300001400252490000700266520112200273100001801395700002101413700002301434856016101457 2001 eng d a0038-494100aDo Attitudes and Personality Characteristics Affect Socioeconomic Outcomes? The Case of Welfare Use by Young Women0 aDo Attitudes and Personality Characteristics Affect Socioeconomi c2001 a817 - 8430 v823 a

Objective. We estimate a model of social-psychological determinants of entry into Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the primary cash welfare program in the United States until 1996. Methods. Using information from the youngest cohorts of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we estimate logit models of the probability of ever participating in AFDC and hazard models of the timing until first use of AFDC. Results. We find strong associations between welfare use and several attitudes and personality characteristics, but with two exceptions, most of the associations are not robust to the inclusion of exogenous background characteristics. There is consistent, strong evidence that positive attitudes toward school lower the likelihood of using welfare and increase duration until first receipt. Family background and social environment characteristics show strong robust effects. Conclusions. Our results point to relatively weak evidence for the hypothesis that individual attitudes in adolescence have a significant impact on initial welfare receipt.

1 aEdwards, Mark1 aPlotnick, Robert1 aKlawitter, Marieka uhttps://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/biblio/sociology/do-attitudes-and-personality-characteristics-affect-socioeconomic-outcomes-case-welfare-use-young-women