Advanced Search
MyIDEAS: Login

A new idea for welfare reform

Contents:

Author Info

  • Michael P. Kean
Registered author(s):

    Abstract

    This article analyzes several proposals to build work incentives into the U.S. welfare system. It concludes that the most cost effective way to do that is to offer a work subsidy to all low-income single parents—in other words, to simply pay them for working in the labor market. This conclusion is based on a model of the labor force participation behavior of low-income single mothers that the author developed with Robert Moffitt. Among the proposals evaluated in the article, besides the work subsidy, are proposals to reduce the rate that welfare benefits are reduced when welfare recipients work, to provide wage subsidies to low-wage workers, to expand the earned income tax credit, and to subsidize the fixed costs of working.

    Download Info

    If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
    File URL: http://minneapolisfed.org/research/qr/qr1921.html
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://minneapolisfed.org/research/qr/qr1921.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    Bibliographic Info

    Article provided by Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in its journal Quarterly Review.

    Volume (Year): (1995)
    Issue (Month): Spr ()
    Pages: 2-28

    as in new window
    Handle: RePEc:fip:fedmqr:y:1995:i:spr:p:2-28:n:v.19no.2

    Contact details of provider:
    Postal: 90 Hennepin Avenue, P.O. Box 291, Minneapolis, MN 55480-0291
    Phone: (612) 204-5000
    Web page: http://minneapolisfed.org/
    More information through EDIRC

    Order Information:
    Email:
    Web: http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/

    Related research

    Keywords: Welfare;

    References

    References listed on IDEAS
    Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
    as in new window
    1. Keane, Michael & Moffitt, Robert, 1998. "A Structural Model of Multiple Welfare Program Participation and Labor Supply," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 39(3), pages 553-89, August.
    2. Willis, Robert J., 1987. "Wage determinants: A survey and reinterpretation of human capital earnings functions," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & R. Layard (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 10, pages 525-602 Elsevier.
    3. Robert Moffitt & Barbara Wolfe, 1990. "The Effect of the Medicaid Program on Welfare Participation and Labor Supply," NBER Working Papers 3286, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Fraker, Thomas & Moffitt, Robert, 1988. "The effect of food stamps on labor supply : A bivariate selection model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 25-56, February.
    5. Danziger, Sheldon & Haveman, Robert & Plotnick, Robert, 1981. "How Income Transfer Programs Affect Work, Savings, and the Income Distribution: A Critical Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 19(3), pages 975-1028, September.
    6. Moffitt, Robert, 1989. "Estimating the Value of an In-Kind Transfer: The Case of Food Stamps," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(2), pages 385-409, March.
    7. Daniel Meyer, 1993. "Child support and welfare dynamics: Evidence from Wisconsin," Demography, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 45-62, February.
    8. R. H. Haveman & J. K. Scholz, . "The Clinton welfare reform plan: Will it end poverty as we know it," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1037-94, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    9. Killingsworth, Mark R. & Heckman, James J., 1987. "Female labor supply: A survey," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & R. Layard (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 2, pages 103-204 Elsevier.
    10. Moffitt, Robert, 1983. "An Economic Model of Welfare Stigma," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(5), pages 1023-35, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as in new window

    Cited by:
    1. V. Joseph Hotz & Charles H. Mullin & John Karl Scholz, 2001. "The Earned Income Tax Credit and Labor Market Participation of Families on Welfare," JCPR Working Papers 214, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    2. Chris Herbst, 2010. "The labor supply effects of child care costs and wages in the presence of subsidies and the earned income tax credit," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 199-230, June.
    3. Robert Moffitt, 2002. "Welfare Programs and Labor Supply," NBER Working Papers 9168, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Bruce D. Meyer & James X. Sullivan, 2001. "The Effects of Welfare and Tax Reform: The Material Well-Being of Single Mothers in the 1980s and 1990s," NBER Working Papers 8298, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Luis Ayala & César Pérez, . "Macroeconomic Conditions, Institutional Factors And Demographic Structure: What Causes Welfare Caseloads?," Working Papers 2-03, Instituto de Estudios Fiscales.
    6. Bruce D. Meyer & James Xavier Sullivan, 2000. "The Effects of Welfare Reform: The Living Conditions of Single Mothers in the 1980s and 1990s," JCPR Working Papers 206, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.

    Lists

    This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fip:fedmqr:y:1995:i:spr:p:2-28:n:v.19no.2

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Diane Rosenberger).

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

    If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.