Title: Rational Choice, Culture of Poverty, and the Intergenerational Transmission of Welfare Dependency
Abstract: It has now become evident that, contrary to the expectations of the proponents of the Great Society, a significant number of recipients of transfer benefits have careers that last for many years. Prolonged reliance on has generated a wide range of issues related to the process and patterns of dependency and has raised questions about how best to reform policy. For example, it has been suggested that use is addictive, creating a welfare culture that is transmitted across generations. Glicken [7, 31] states that most recipients of AFDC benefits are those people whose parents were recipients-people who have been socialized into the system as children. Duncan, Hill, and Hoffman [5, 469], on the other hand, investigate the patterns of dependence among AFDC recipients and conclude that [t]he stereotype of heavy dependence being routinely passed from mother to child is ... contradicted. . .' Other studies [2; 24] have suggested that there are significant racial differences in the duration of time on pointing to a race-based dependency pattern. Rank [24], for example, finds that black women remain on for significantly longer periods than white women. Specifically, he finds the median number of months on to be 21.6 months for white women and 45.2 for black women.2 Other studies have suggested that long-time use
Publication Year: 1991
Publication Date: 1991-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 21
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