The sons of female beneficiaries of the U.S. government’s first welfare program for mothers tended to live longer, attain more education and earn higher income than their peers whose mothers were rejected from the program.
More recently, young children of families who, under a 1990s government initiative, moved from public housing to neighborhoods with less poverty tended to have increased college attendance and adult earnings than children who stayed behind.
These outcomes are explained in two new academic studies. They are the most recent contributions to ongoing national discourse over whether public assistance can improve long-term outcomes for low-income children. Results of both studies are published in this month’s issue of the American Economic Review.
The first study, titled “The Long-Run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families,” examined Mother’s Pensions, a federal welfare initiative for single mothers with dependent children that lasted from 1911 to 1935.
The program’s administrative records showed that the financial assistance represented 12 to 25 percent of total family income and lasted about three years. Data was collected on 16,000 boys in 11 states who were born between 1900 and 1925. About 14 percent of the boys came from families whose welfare applications were rejected.
Based on census and death records, researchers found that the sons of women receiving cash assistance lived about one year longer, attained about four months more schooling and earned 14 percent more income as adults than did the sons of female applicants who were rejected for the program.
“Because income transfers were the only major public benefit that poor children were eligible for until 1950 — with the exception of public schooling — the results can be interpreted as the effect of cash transfers alone,” the authors said.
