There is major policy interest in knowing whether immigrants are more likely to depend on (as opposed to temporarily participate in) welfare compared to native-born persons. However, little systematic empirical research has directly addressed this question. Using longitudinal surveys from the California Work Pays Demonstration Project, a mother's chance of welfare dependency in a time interval is examined. In general, the results are not consistent with the perspective that foreign-born race and ethnic subgroups are more likely to depend on AFDC than are native-born race and ethnic subgroups. This finding holds true irrespective of whether socioeconomic and demographic characteristics are controlled.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BahrS. J.1979“The Effects of Welfare on Marital Stability and Remarriage,”Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41:553–560.
2.
BeanF. D. and SullivanT. A.1985“Confronting the Problem,”Society, 22:67–73.
3.
BecerraR., LewV., MitchellM. and OnoH.1998California Work Pays Demonstration Project: Final Report.Los Angeles: Welfare Policy Research Group.
4.
BecerraR., LewinA., MitchellM. and OnoH.1996California Work Pays Demonstration Project: Interim Report of First Thirty Months.Los Angeles: Welfare Policy Research Group.
5.
BeckerG. S.1964Human Capital.New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.
6.
BennettN. G., BloomD. E. and MillerC. K.1995“The Influence of Nonmarital Childbearing on the Formation of First Marriages,”Demography, 32:47–62.
7.
BlauF. D.1984“The Use of Transfer Payments by Immigrants,”Industrial Labor Relations Review, 37:222–239.
8.
BlauP. M. and DuncanO. D.1967The American Occupational Structure.New York: Wiley.
9.
BoboL. and HutchingsV. L.1996“Perceptions of Racial Competition in a Multiracial Setting,”American Sociological Review, 61(6):951–972.
10.
BorjasG. J.1994“The Economics of Immigration,”Journal of Economic Literature, 32:1667–1717.
11.
BorjasG. J.1987“Self-selection and the Earnings of Immigrants,”American Economic Review, 77:531–553.
12.
BorjasG. J. and HiltonL.1996“Immigration and the Welfare State: Immigrant Participation in Means-tested Entitlement Programs,”Quarterly Journal of Economics, 111(2):575–604.
13.
BorjasG. J. and TrejoS.1993“National Origin and Immigrant Welfare Recipiency,”Journal of Public Economics, 50:325–344.
14.
BorjasG. J. and TrejoS.1991“Immigrant Participation in the Welfare System,”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 44(2):195–211.
15.
BoskinM. J. and NoldF. C.1975“A Markov Model of Turnover in Aid to Families with Dependency Children,”Journal of Human Resources, 10:467–481.
16.
ChengT. C. W.1995“The Chances of Recipients Leaving AFDC: A Longitudinal Study,”Social Work Research, 19:67–76.
17.
DesbaratsJ.1985“Indochinese Resettlement in the United States,”Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 75:522–538.
18.
DuncanG.1984Years of Poverty, Years of Plenty.Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.
19.
DuncanG. J. and HoffmanS. D.1988“The Use and Effects of Welfare: A Survey of Recent Evidence,”Social Science Review, 62:238–257.
20.
EllwoodD. T. and BaneM. J.1985“The Impact of AFDC on Family Structure and Living Arrangement,”Research in Labor Economics, 7:137–207.
21.
FeathermanD. L. and HauserR. M.1978Opportunity and Change.New York: Academic Press.
22.
FixM. and ZimmermanW.1995“When Should Immigrants Receive Public Benefits?” In Welfare Reform: An Analysis of the Issues. Ed. SawhillI. V.Washington: The Urban Institute.
23.
FixM. E. and PasselJ. S.1994“Setting the Record Straight: What Are the Costs to the Public?”Public Welfare, 52:6–15.
24.
GottschalkP. and MoffittR. A.1994“Welfare Dependence: Concepts, Measures, and Trends,”American Economic Review, 84(2):38–42.
25.
HarrisK. M.1996“Life after Welfare: Women, Work and Repeat Dependency,”American Sociological Review, 61:407–426.
26.
HeckmanJ. J. and BorjasG. J.1980“Does Unemployment Cause Future Unemployment? Definitions, Questions, and Answers from a Continuous Time Model of Heterogeneity and State Dependence,”Economica, 47:247–283.
27.
HofferthS. L. and DeichS. G.1994“Recent U.S. Child Care and Family Legislation in Comparative Perspective,”Journal of Family Issues, 15:424–448.
28.
HuddleD.1993“The Net Costs of Immigration to California: Executive Summary.” A Paper Distributed by Rice University.
29.
HutchensR. M.1981“Entry and Exit Transitions in a Government Transfer Program: The Case of Aid to Families with Dependent Children,”Journal of Human Resources, 16:217–237.
30.
JencksC.1996“Can We Replace Welfare With Work?” In Reducing Poverty in America. Ed. DarbyM.Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Pp. 69–82.
31.
JensenL.1988“Patterns of Immigration and Public Assistance Utilization, 1970–1980,”International Migration Review, 22(1):51–83.
32.
LeahyP. L., BussT. F. and QuaneJ. N.1995“Time on Welfare: Why Do People Enter and Leave the System?”American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 54:32–46.
33.
MincerJ.1974Schooling, Experience and Earnings.New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.
34.
MoffittR.1992“Incentive Effects of the U.S. Welfare System: A Review,”Journal of Economic Literature, 30:1–61.
35.
NicholsA. C.1979“Why Welfare Mothers Work: Implications for Employment and Training Services,”Social Service Review, 53(3):378–391.
36.
ParkerT. A.1994“The California Story,”Public Welfare, 52:16–21.
37.
PetersenC. D.1995“Female-headed Families on AFDC: Who Leaves Welfare Quickly and Who Doesn't,”Journal of Economic Issues, 29:619–628.
38.
PlotnickR.1983“Turnover in the AFDC Population: An Event History Analysis,”Journal of Human Resources, 18:65–81.
39.
RankM. R.1989“Fertility among Women on Welfare: Incidence and Determinants,”American Sociological Review, 54:296–304.
40.
RankM. R.1988“Racial Differences in Length of Welfare Use,”Social Forces, 66:1080–1101.
41.
RankM. R.1986“Family Structure and the Process of Exiting from Welfare,”Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48:607–618.
42.
RindfussR. R. and BrewsterK. L.1996“Childrearing and Fertility,”Population and Development Review, 22(S):258–289.
43.
U.S. Bureau of Census1994Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1990. U.S. Government Printing Office.
44.
Spalter-RothR. M. and HartmannH. I.1994“Dependence on Men, the Market, or the State: The Rhetoric and Reality of Welfare Reform,”Journal of Applied Social Sciences, 18:55–70.
45.
SpainD.1996Balancing Act: Motherhood Marriage, and Employment among American Women.New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
46.
StevansL. K.1996“Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Non-Marital Births in the USA: An Examination of Causality,”Applied Economics, 28:417–427.
47.
TiendaM.1980“Familism and Structural Assimilation of Mexican Immigrants in the United States,”International Migration Review, 14:383–408.
48.
TiendaM. and JensenL.1986“Immigration and Public Assistance Participation: Dispelling the Myth of Dependency,”Social Science Research, 15:372–400.
