IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/evarev/v29y2005i6p507-529.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Family Size on Incentive Effects of Welfare Transfers in Two-Parent Families

Author

Listed:
  • Alisa C. Lewin

    (University of Haifa, Israel, and University of Chicago, alewin@uchicago.edu)

  • Eric Maurin

    (École Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris)

Abstract

Family size is an important determinant of family well-being, and it is a good predictor of poverty. This study examines effects of waiving the 100-hour rule, by family size, and distinguishes between the “work-incentive effects†and the “eligibility effects†of the waiver. The 100-hour rule limits eligibility to aid to two-parent families in which the principal earner is unemployed or underemployed (works fewer than 100 hours per month). The study uses data from the Link-Up randomized experiment, conducted in California’s Central Valley, from 1992 to 1994. The findings show that the eligibility effect of the waiver does not differ by family size, but the work-incentive effect does.

Suggested Citation

  • Alisa C. Lewin & Eric Maurin, 2005. "The Effect of Family Size on Incentive Effects of Welfare Transfers in Two-Parent Families," Evaluation Review, , vol. 29(6), pages 507-529, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:evarev:v:29:y:2005:i:6:p:507-529
    DOI: 10.1177/0193841X05276444
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0193841X05276444
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0193841X05276444?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    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. Imbens, G.W. & Rubin, D. & Sacerdote, B., 1999. "Estimating the effect of unearned income on labor supply, earnings, savings and consumption : Evidence from a survey of lottery players," Other publications TiSEM 43407245-d868-4cec-b289-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Hausman, Jerry A & Wise, David A, 1977. "Social Experimentation, Truncated Distributions, and Efficient Estimation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 45(4), pages 919-938, May.
    4. 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.
    5. Hoynes, Hilary Williamson, 1996. "Welfare Transfers in Two-Parent Families: Labor Supply and Welfare Participation under AFDC-UP," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(2), pages 295-332, March.
    6. Harold W. Watts & Robert Avery & David Elesh & David Horner & M. J. Lefcowitz & John Mamer & Dale Poirier & Seymour Spilerman & Sonia Wright, 1974. "The Labor-Supply Response of Husbands," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 9(2), pages 181-200.
    7. David Card & Philip K. Robins, 1996. "Do Financial Incentives Encourage Welfare Recipients to Work? Early Findings from the Canadian Self Sufficiency Project," Working Papers 738, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    8. David Card & Philip K. Robins, 1996. "Do Financial Incentives Encourage Welfare Recipients to Work? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation of the Self-Sufficiency Project," NBER Working Papers 5701, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. H. Hoynes & R. Moffitt, "undated". "The effectiveness of financial work incentives in DI and SSI: Lessons from other transfer programs," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1073-95, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    2. Blundell, Richard & Macurdy, Thomas, 1999. "Labor supply: A review of alternative approaches," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1559-1695, Elsevier.
    3. P. A. Smith, "undated". "The Effect of the 1981 Welfare Reforms on AFDC Participation and Labor Supply," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1117-97, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    4. James P. Ziliak, 2003. "Income Transfers and Assets of the Poor," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(1), pages 63-76, February.
    5. Fortin, Bernard, 1997. "Dépendance à l’égard de l’aide sociale et réforme de la sécurité du revenu," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 73(4), pages 557-573, décembre.
    6. David Card & Philip K. Robins & Winston Lin, 1998. "Would Financial Incentives for Leaving Welfare Lead Some People to Stay on Welfare Longer? An Experimental Evaluation of 'Entry Effects' in the SSP," NBER Working Papers 6449, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h86b02c82 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. 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 553-589, August.
    9. Janet Currie & Jonathan Gruber, 1996. "Health Insurance Eligibility, Utilization of Medical Care, and Child Health," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(2), pages 431-466.
    10. Emmanuel Saez, 2002. "Optimal Income Transfer Programs: Intensive versus Extensive Labor Supply Responses," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(3), pages 1039-1073.
    11. Audrey Light & Manuelita Ureta, 2003. "Living Arrangements, Employment Status, and the Economic Well-Being of Mothers: Evidence from Brazil, Chile and the United States," Working Papers 03-06, Ohio State University, Department of Economics.
    12. John Creedy & Guyonne Kalb & Rosanna Scutella, 2003. "Income Distribution in Discrete Hours Behavioural Microsimulation Models: An Illustration of the Labour Supply and Distributional Effects of Social Transfers," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2003n23, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    13. Keshab Bhattarai & John Whalley, 1997. "The Redistributive Effects of Transfers," NBER Working Papers 6281, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Ariel Marek Pihl, 2018. "Head Start and Mothers' Work: Free Child Care or Something More?," Working Papers 18-13, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    15. A. S. Yelowitz, "undated". "Did recent medicaid reforms cause the caseload explosion in the food stamp program?," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1109-96, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    16. Hoynes, Hilary Williamson & Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore, 2012. "Work incentives and the Food Stamp Program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 151-162.
    17. R. L. Hanson & J. T. Hartman, "undated". "Do welfare magnets attract?," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1028-94, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    18. Mekonnen, Tigist, 2017. "Financing rural households and its impact: Evidence from randomized field experiment data," MERIT Working Papers 2017-009, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    19. Atkinson, A. B., 1995. "Is the Welfare State necessarily an obstacle to economic growth?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(3-4), pages 723-730, April.
    20. repec:idb:brikps:335 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Adam Looney, 2005. "The effects of welfare reform and related policies on single mothers' welfare use and employment," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2005-45, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    22. R. Haveman & B. Wolfe, "undated". "Welfare to Work in the U.S.: A Model for Other Nations?," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1159-98, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:evarev:v:29:y:2005:i:6:p:507-529. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.