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Use of Means-Tested Transfer Programs by Immigrants, Their Children, and Their Children's Children

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  • Luojia Hu

Abstract

Public concern over immigrants' use of welfare culminated in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Welfare Reform Act (WRA)). Welfare reform radically changed the welfare system in the United States. Its impact on low-skilled U.S. citizens is the subject of intense debate and study. While the changes brought by this law affect all welfare recipients, noncitizens were expressly singled out. The welfare reform act affects the panoply of government sponsored support more profoundly for noncitizens than for any other group. We first present a brief summary of the changes in the welfare system affecting noncitizens, using data from the 1994-1996 Current Populations Surveys to analyze these changes. In addition to providing information on changes in welfare rules pertaining to immigrants, the contribution of this research to the literature on immigrants and welfare is threefold: first, we use the most recent data available before the large overhaul in the welfare rules and those data have rich information on a wide range of transfer programs. Therefore this work should help paint a clear picture of immigrants' reliance on welfare prior to the welfare reform. Secondly, the data allow us to examine several groups of interest, in particular, immigrants, the second generation and the third (and higher) generation. Lastly, combining the CPS data with 1970 Census data allows us to calculate intergenerational correlation in welfare use between immigrants and their children. So this paper should shed some light on the possible effects, both short term and long term, of welfare reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Luojia Hu, 1999. "Use of Means-Tested Transfer Programs by Immigrants, Their Children, and Their Children's Children," JCPR Working Papers 71, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:wop:jopovw:71
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Moffitt, Robert, 1992. "Incentive Effects of the U.S. Welfare System: A Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(1), pages 1-61, March.
    2. Julian R. Betts & Magnus Lofstrom, 2000. "The Educational Attainment of Immigrants: Trends and Implications," NBER Chapters, in: Issues in the Economics of Immigration, pages 51-116, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Assimilation, Changes in Cohort Quality, and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 2, pages 3-29, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Kristin F. Butcher & Anne Morrison Piehl, 1998. "Cross-city evidence on the relationship between immigration and crime," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 457-493.
    5. Janet Currie, 2000. "Do Children of Immigrants Make Differential Use of Public Health Insurance?," NBER Chapters, in: Issues in the Economics of Immigration, pages 271-308, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Antel, John J, 1992. "The Intergenerational Transfer of Welfare Dependency: Some Statistical Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(3), pages 467-473, August.
    7. Janet Currie & Aaron S. Yelowitz, 1999. "Health Insurance and Less Skilled Workers," JCPR Working Papers 63, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    8. Bartel, Ann P, 1989. "Where Do the New U.S. Immigrants Live?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(4), pages 371-391, October.
    9. Francine D. Blau, 1984. "The Use of Transfer Payments by Immigrants," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 37(2), pages 222-239, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kristin F. Butcher & Anne Morrison Piehl, 2005. "Why are immigrants' incarceration rates so low? evidence on selective immigration, deterrence, and deportation," Working Paper Series WP-05-19, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

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