Child neglect increases in states that cut their welfare benefit levels.
Provisions of the reform call for reductions in benefit levels for recipients who do not work. Using state-level data on the number of reports and substantiated cases of child maltreatment, Paxson and Waldfogel find more broadly that the socioeconomic status of families does affect levels of child maltreatment. Maltreatment encompasses a wide range of behavior that harms children, including neglect, physical abuse, and other forms of abuse. Children with working mothers and absent fathers are more likely to be subject to neglect and abuse. So are children with two non-working parents or parents whose income is below 75 percent of the official poverty level.