AFDC and the Formation of Subfamilies

Hutchens, Robert; Jakubson, George H.; Schwartz, Saul

doi:10.2307/145997

Cited by 41 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…However, because that type of support is more verifiable than support from a cohabiting male, states are more likely to reduce the benefit in this case. The less-than-full taxation of parental support provides an incentive for a woman to live with her parents, as noted by Hutchens et al (1989). The fact that support is partly taxed provides a disincentive for a woman to live with her parents relative to a family-structure-neutral system in which the AFDC benefit is not affected by this type of family structure.…”

Section: Family Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ellwood and Bane (1985) found that higher AFDC benefits were associated with greater propensities for single mothers to live independently of parents, while Hutchens et al (1989) argued that the proper variable is the relative benefit between living with and without parents--equal to the benefit penalty imposed for living with parents--and found it to have a statistically significant effect on the propensity to live independently. Hu (2001) found that the probability that a teenager in a welfare family leaves the household is inversely related to the size of the benefit reduction suffered by the parent if the teen were to leave.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program

Moffitt¹

2002

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The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was created in 1996 from what was previously named the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. The TANF program is intended to serve low-income families, primarily those with only a single parent present, as did the AFDC program. The TANF program is distinguished from AFDC by strong work requirements, time limits on receipt, options for the provision of noncash assistance, and by a block grant financing structure. This paper reviews the rules of the TANF program and the research that has been conducted on it and on the AFDC program. financing through block grants, to the individual states; (2) the imposition of strict work requirements in order to qualify for federal aid; and (3) lifetime limits on the number of years of benefit receipt which could be paid out of federal funds. This paper reviews the rules and structure of the TANF program and compares them with the historical AFDC program. In addition, it reviews the caseloads, costs, and participation rates of the TANF and AFDC programs. Finally, it reviews the research that has been conducted on both programs. Given the relative youth of the former, relatively little scholarly research has been conducted on it to date. Consequently, the bulk of the research will be reviewed for the AFDC program. Some discussion will also be provided of the extent to which the results of the AFDC research can be expected to apply to the TANF program.The first section reviews the rules and history of the programs. The second section reviews the trends in caseloads and expenditures and other program characteristics, followed by a section on the research results. A final section discusses reforms of the financial incentives in the program. A short, but more detailed, history of the major developments in the AFDC program can be found in Garfinkel and McLanahan (1986, Chapter 4). That discussion also includes an account of the history of income support programs prior to AFDC. I. History, Rules, and GoalsHistory and Rules of the AFDC Program. Table 1 shows the major pieces of legislation creating and altering the AFDC program over its history, 1935-1996. 1 The program was created by the Social Security Act of 1935 along with the Old-Age Social Security and Unemployment Insurance programs. AFDC provided cash financial support to families with "dependent" children, defined as those who were deprived of the support or care of one natural (i.e., biological) parent by reason of death, disability, or absence from the home, and were under the care of the other parent or another relative. Although the language of the legislation was genderneutral, in practice the vast majority of families of this type consisted of a mother and her children, or what are today called single-mother families. Although the presence of the father was possible if he was the single parent or if he was disabled, the overwhelming majority of participating families were initially, and have continued to be, those where the father is...

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Section: Family Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program

Moffitt¹

2002

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“…These studies have found mixed results, depending partially on the definition of living arrangement utilized. Living arrangements have been defined in three ways in the literature to date: (1) using the Census Bureau's household head or subfamily head designation [Ellwood and Bane, 1985;Hutchens, Jakubson, and Schwarz, 1989;Winkler, 1992], 2 (2) creating a multilevel choice structure [Shelton and Sueyoshi, 1994], and (3) classifying single mothers into a few distinct groups without a multilevel choice structure [Folk, 1996;London, 1998;Hilton, 1995, Winkler, 1993]. The most recent studies tend to use the third type of classification, as it provides the most detailed information without imposing decision rules that are difficult to verify.…”

Section: Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

The interaction between single mothers' living arrangements and welfare participation

London¹

2000

J. Pol. Anal. Manage.

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This article examines the interaction between single mothers' living arrangements and their welfare participation, taking into account the endogeneity embedded in the two decisions. Using data from the 1990 Survey of Income and Program Participation, I estimate a two‐stage instrumental variables model and simulate the effects of partial‐ and full‐family benefit reductions on both the distribution of living arrangements and the rate of welfare participation. Tabulations show that 62 percent of single mothers live independently, 16 percent live in the home of their parents, 12 percent cohabit with an unrelated man, and 11 percent share with others. Reductions in combined AFDC and food stamp benefits increase mothers' probability of living with their parents relative to living independently, cohabiting, or sharing with others. Benefit reductions also decrease the probability of welfare receipt. The resulting drop in the participation rate is even more pronounced once the simultaneous effect on the distribution of living arrangements is taken into account. The implication of these findings is that policies aimed at reducing welfare caseloads may have the unanticipated effect of shifting families' living arrangements, potentially confounding the impacts of policy changes in either positive or negative ways. © 2000 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

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“…One set of studies does suggest that lower state AFDC benefit levels may be associated with family extension, especially in recent decades (Ellwood & Bane, 1985;Hendershott & Smith, 1989;Ruggles, 1997;Scheirer, 1983). However, Hutchens, Jakubson, and Schwartz (1989) found that the effects were small or nonexistent, Haurin, Hendershott, and Kim (1993) found that AFDC benefit levels had no relationship with whether women lived apart from parents (although AFDC levels did affect where the women lived once they had left: women who lived in states with higher AFDC levels tended to live alone rather than with others), and Whittington and Peters (1996) found that higher benefit levels were associated with a lower likelihood of young women-both mothers and non-mothers-leaving home for the first time. Gordon (1998) recently conducted a dynamic analysis that focused exclusively on young mothers.…”

Section: Predictors Of Minor Parents' Living Arrangementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multigenerational coresidence and welfare policy

Gordon

1999

J. Community Psychol.

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As part of the 1996 federal welfare reform, lawmakers required unmarried, minor parents to live with their own parents (or another qualified adult). This paper considers a few key issues related to this requirement: 1) prior to the living arrangements requirement, did income from Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) lead teenage mothers to move out of their parents' home? 2) did young mothers who stayed at home do better or worse than their peers who moved out? and 3) how solid is the research evidence about these topics? Measurement barriers in census data prior to the mid‐1980s and in state program administrative data, in the past and still today, impede identification of all teenage parents who live at home. Yet, even given this undercount, available data indicates that most unmarried, minor mothers lived with their parents, or other adult relatives, prior to the 1996 welfare reform. Although the research base on the topic is small, there is not clear evidence that the small fraction of young mothers who moved out of their parents' home did so because they could access AFDC income. Consistent descriptive evidence does suggest that living in a three‐generational household is associated with teenage mothers' greater economic self‐sufficiency; at the same time, however, coresiding teenage mothers appear to exhibit poorer parenting skills and the effects on their children and their own parents remain little understood. These findings are discussed in relation to the minor parent residence policy, and recommendations for future research are made including: 1) collection of data that better identifies minor parent families living in senior parents' households; 2) using whole‐family perspectives that look beyond the minor mother to the well‐being of her parents, children, and other family members; 3) studies that consider the selection of teenage mothers into various living arrangements when studying their consequences, and 4) intensive studies of positive and negative aspects of family functioning and social networks when minor mothers live in various arrangements. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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AFDC and the Formation of Subfamilies

Cited by 41 publications

References 6 publications

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program

The interaction between single mothers' living arrangements and welfare participation

Multigenerational coresidence and welfare policy

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