Recent U.S. federal legislation required states to establish mandatory judicial guidelines for the setting of child-support awards. An equivalence-based approach is used to compare three formulae (two in use, one proposed) to three theoretical benchmarks, to clarify unavoidable trade-offs in the...

In the United States, multi-partnered fertility (MPF) has become commonplace. This study provides the first nationally representative measures of women’s MPF, across multiple years, using the U.S. Census Bureau’s Surveys of Income and Program Participation. Because welfare rules contain...

This study provides the first current, nationally representative estimate of the prevalence of multipartnered fertility among American women, as a whole and within subgroups. We also chart trends in behavior from 1985 through 2008. Our estimates are derived from the household relationship...

Across the United States, two phenomena have emerged: high rates of multi-partnered fertility (having children by more than one partner) and high rates of male involvement with the criminal justice system. This paper is a first step in an exploration of the possible connection between these two...

Examining 33 indicators of well-being from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we conclude that stepchildren’ s inferior outcomes are not entirely explained by sample selection. Using sibling comparisons to control for unobserved family characteristics, we identify stepparent...

Most studies of family structure and child outcomes conclude that stepchildren fare little better than children in single-parent families, and substantially worse than children in intact families. Is this because adults treat biological children differently from stepchildren, or are...

Objective Better measurement of the health and cognitive benefits of breastfeeding by using sibling comparisons to reduce sample selection bias. Data We use data on the breastfeeding history, physical and emotional health, academic performance, cognitive ability, and demographic characteristics...