Volume 31, Number 1 (Winter) 1996
Blank, Rebecca M., and Patricia Ruggles. 1996. "When Do Women Use Aid to Families with Dependent Children and Food Stamps? The Dynamics of Eligibility versus Participation, by Journal of Human Resources 31(1):57-89.
This
paper investigates dynamic patterns in the relationship between eligibility and
participation in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Food
Stamp programs, using monthly longitudinal data from the Survey of Income and
Program Participation. The results indicate that there are many relatively short
eligibility spells that do not result in program participation, and end with
increases in income. Participation is most likely to occur among women with
lower current and future earnings opportunities, and is affected by locational
and policy parameters. Those who elect to participate in these programs tend to
start receiving benefits almost immediately upon becoming eligible. A
substantial number of women exit these programs before their eligibility ends;
among at least some of these women it is likely that unreported changes in
income are occurring. In 1989, if all eligible single-parent families had
participated in AFDC and Food Stamps, benefit payments in these programs would
have been $13.5
billion
higher.
Rebecca M. Blank is a professor at Northwestern University and a coeditor of the Journal of Human Resources. Patricia Ruggles is on the staff of the Joint Economic Committee. This project has received support from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Joint Statistical Agreement No 91-24, National Science Foundation, Project SES-9209245, and the Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research, Northwestern University. Any opinions expressed in this paper reflect the views of the authors and not of these organizations. Thanks are due to Yasuyo Abe, Rebecca London, Doug Murray and Larry Radbill for their assistance with data analysis, and to participants in seminars at Northwestern, the University of Chicago, NBER, and the Institute for Research on Poverty, University of WisconsinMadison. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning in August 1996 through July t999 from Professor Rebecca M. Blank, Department of Economics, 2003 Sheridan Road, North western University, Evanston, IL 60208-2600.
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