Because of data constraints, much of the research analyzing immigrant participation in welfare programs investigates the extent to which immigrants enroll in cash benefit programs, with little attention being paid to the trends and determinants of immigrant participation in other programs. This paper uses data drawn from the decennial Censuses, the Survey of Income and Program Participation, and the Current Population Surveys to analyze trends in immigrant participation in the Food Stamp Program. The study describes the differential trends in immigrant and native participation in the Food Stamp Program; explores the factors that cause these differential trends; and examines the extent to which immigrant participation in public assistance programs affects the propensity of the second generation to receive food stamps.
The evidence suggests that the immigrant-native gap in participation rates in the Food Stamp Program widened until about 1995. Since 1995, there has been a decline in the number of both native and immigrant households that receive food stamps, but the decline has been steeper in the immigrant population. A large part of the gap in participation rates between immigrant and native households can be attributed to differences in socioeconomic characteristics between the two groups, particularly educational attainment. The evidence also indicates that immigrant households have much higher entry rates into the Food Stamp Program, but roughly the same exit rates. Finally, there is a strong link between the use of cash benefits in the immigrant generation and the use of food stamps in the second generation.">
| Author Info |
Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):
| Abstract |
Because of data constraints, much of the research analyzing immigrant participation in welfare programs investigates the extent to which immigrants enroll in cash benefit programs, with little attention being paid to the trends and determinants of immigrant participation in other programs. This paper uses data drawn from the decennial Censuses, the Survey of Income and Program Participation, and the Current Population Surveys to analyze trends in immigrant participation in the Food Stamp Program. The study describes the differential trends in immigrant and native participation in the Food Stamp Program; explores the factors that cause these differential trends; and examines the extent to which immigrant participation in public assistance programs affects the propensity of the second generation to receive food stamps.
The evidence suggests that the immigrant-native gap in participation rates in the Food Stamp Program widened until about 1995. Since 1995, there has been a decline in the number of both native and immigrant households that receive food stamps, but the decline has been steeper in the immigrant population. A large part of the gap in participation rates between immigrant and native households can be attributed to differences in socioeconomic characteristics between the two groups, particularly educational attainment. The evidence also indicates that immigrant households have much higher entry rates into the Food Stamp Program, but roughly the same exit rates. Finally, there is a strong link between the use of cash benefits in the immigrant generation and the use of food stamps in the second generation.
| Download Info |
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
| Publisher Info |
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML,
plain text,
BibTeX,
RIS (EndNote),
ReDIF
Contact details of provider:
Postal: Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, 1155 E. 60th Street Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773-702-0472
Email:
Web page: http://www.jcpr.org/wp/ByDate.html
More information through EDIRC
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Thomas Krichel).
| Related research |
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.:
| Statistics |
Did you know? To receive notification of recent additions to the database, subscribe to the free NEP reports.
This page was last updated on 2008-9-2.