Laura Cuesta
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About Laura
Cuesta’s research focuses on understanding how countries approach social problems emerging from dramatic changes in family structure; especially the increasing proportion of children being raised apart from one of their parents (usually their father); and the extent and consequences of these rapid transformations of families worldwide. Her current projects examine factors associated with union formation; union dissolution; and family complexity in Chile and Colombia; approaches to child support policy in a number of Latin American countries; and the role of child support policy on child and family well-being in Chile; Colombia; and the US.
Contributions
Publications
Presents evidence that child support transfers do not reduce the labor supply of low-income custodial mothers receiving cash welfare.
Shows how household debt affects the psychological well-being of Americans, with short term (unsecured) debt having the most negative impact on adult depressive symptoms.
Uses unique longitudinal data from Wisconsin to show intergenerational and intragenerational overlap in the criminal justice and child protective services systems.
Presents evidence that low rates of child support receipt may be a core issue across countries and, despite differences in economic development and child support policies, custodial mother families may face similar issues when it comes to receiving financial support from their children’s father.