The Role of Family Income in the Intergenerational Association of AFDC Receipt

Author: Martin M.A.

Source: Journal of Marriage and Family, Volume 65, Number 2, May 2003 , pp. 326-340(15)

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Abstract:

Daughters from low-income families who did not receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) are compared to daughters from low-income families who did receive assistance to better account for family income in the intergenerational association of AFDC. The research models the timing of a daughter's first birth and, for those who become mothers, the number of years a daughter receives any AFDC. Women whose families received AFDC during their childhood are more likely to receive AFDC as adults relative to those women whose families did not receive AFDC. Controlling for family income in a more careful and comprehensive way than past research explains part but not all of the effects of childhood AFDC receipt. Among daughters from chronically poor families, however, parental AFDC use is not associated with additional years of AFDC participation. Although the present research cannot confirm or deny a causal role for parental welfare use, the intergenerational transmission of financial resources does explain part of the intergenerational association of welfare use.

Keywords: AFDC; income; intergenerational associations; poverty; welfare

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2003.00326.x

Affiliations: 1: Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706 ( ), Email: mmartin@ssc.wisc.edu

Publication date: 2003-05-01