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Title: Family Poverty and Public Dependency
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Caputo, Richard K. |
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Family Poverty and Public Dependency Presented: New York, NY, Society for the Study of Social Problems Annual Meetings, August 1996 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: Society for the Study of Social Problems Keyword(s): Age at First Intercourse; Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Education; Family Characteristics; Food Stamps (see Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program); Gender Differences; Marital Status; Poverty; Self-Esteem; Unemployment Compensation; Welfare Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1993) were used to identify determinants of public benefits among families above & below the official poverty line in 1992. The relative effects of sociodemographic and attitudinal/cultural characteristics were assessed to determine the likelihood of male and female respondents receiving AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), food stamps, and/or unemployment compensation (UC) benefits. The hypothesis that sociodemographic factors would have far greater explanatory power than attitudinal/cultural characteristics in determining use of public assistance, regardless of sex and poverty status, was tested with a sample of nearly 1,300, 22.3% of whom received either AFDC, UC, food stamps, or some combination. Logistic regression analysis revealed that many of the same sociodemographic characteristics exerted similar influence among men & women on the likelihood of using public assistance, regardless of poverty status. Marital status & education were notable exceptions. Female recipients of public assistance were less likely to be married, while male recipients were more likely to be married only if they were poor. Education affected only the nonpoor. Regarding attitudinal/cultural characteristics, age of first sexual intercourse influenced use of public assistance only for nonpoor women, while self-esteem did so only for poor women. Findings suggest that men and women used public assistance as a buffer against economic vulnerability, and that increased education might be a less effective means to self-sufficiency than commonly thought. Antipoverty policy implications are discussed. (Copyright 1996, Sociological Abstracts, Inc., all rights reserved.) |
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Bibliography Citation
Caputo, Richard K. "Family Poverty and Public Dependency." Presented: New York, NY, Society for the Study of Social Problems Annual Meetings, August 1996. |