Welfare and Children's Well-Being

Abstract:

This article discusses economic theories that arise from a household production model about the production of children’s well‐being and explores how those theories inform features of income redistribution policy. Economic needs within families with children, concerns about interactions between the needs of parents and children, reasons for conditioning benefits or providing benefits directly to children, and the role of social services are each examined and discussed in the context of the Australian Family Tax Benefit program and recent proposals to reform Australian welfare programs.