Dallman, Scott2025-03-212025-03-212024https://hdl.handle.net/11299/270548University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. 2024. Major: Applied Economics. Advisors: Elizabeth Davis, Joseph Ritter. 1 computer file (PDF); ix, 143 pages.This dissertation examines the impact of social policies related to the well-being of at-risk children. It consists of three chapters. The first chapter estimates the effect of public housing receipt in the US during the 1940s on childrens’ short-term educational attainment. The second chapter measures the extent to which the opioid crisis has affected child out-of-home placements through the US child welfare system. The third chapter analyzes whether the legalization of same-sex marriage in the US has affected same-sex couples' decision to raise children with particular focus on adopted or foster children.enThesis or Dissertation