The effect of educational attainment on welfare dependence: Evidence from Canada

The impact of educational attainment on the duration of welfare spells is a nalysed using a unique data set derived from the administration of the soci al assistance program in Canada over the period 1986-1993. The empirical an alysis includes controls for demographic characteristics, program parameter s, labour market conditions and unobserved individual characteristics. It i s found that that educational attainment has a much greater impact on the w elfare exit rate for women than for men. Additionally, the welfare exit rat e for women is more sensitive to family status and program benefits, but le ss sensitive to the unemployment rare, relative to that for men. (C) 2000 E lsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.