Content by Keyword: Food

Trends in the pre- and post-transfer rates of poverty which show the anti-poverty effectiveness of social security and of the major means-tested assistance program benefits. Figure ECON 7. Poverty Rate of All Persons in Families with Related Children Under 18 Using Alternative Definitions of Income, 1979-1996

The Welfare Indicators Act challenges the Department of Health and Human Services, and indirectly the Advisory Board on Welfare Indicators, to identify and set forth not only indicators of welfare dependence and welfare duration, but also predictors and causes of welfare receipt. Up to this point, welfare research has not established clear and def

Another key aspect of dependence is the extent to which parental receipt of means-tested assistance is associated with receipt by their children when the children become adults. Figure IND 12. Percentage of Youth Recipients (14 to 16) and Youth Non-Recipients (14 to 16) who Received Three Years of Benefits as Adults (25 to 27)

This indicator shows how many people have moved onto means-tested assistance programs and how many recipients have moved off means-tested assistance programs. Figure IND 11a. Percentage of Non-Recipients Moving on to Assistance from 1993 to 1994

Not all eligible households participate in means-tested programs. This indicator reflects “take up rates” – the number of families that actually participate in the program as a percent of those who are eligible. Figure IND 10a. AFDC Caseload versus Number of Eligible Families: Number of Cases & Percentage of Total Eligibles

Figure ECON 7. Percentage of Households Classified by Food Security Status: 2002 Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2002.

Figure ECON 4. Percentage of Total Population in Poverty with Various Means-Tested Benefits Added to Total Cash Income: 1979-2002

The rate of receipt reflects an important aspect of dependence by measuring the extent to which various population subgroups rely on the major means-tested programs. Figure IND 9a. AFDC Recipients as a Percent of the Population

Data on multiple program receipt illustrates the nature of means-tested assistance “packages” and one aspect of the depth of dependence. Figure IND 7. Percentage of Individuals in AFDC Families Receiving Other Assistance, 1994 Source: Table IND 7.

Lifetime welfare receipt often occurs in more than one episode. Indicators that measure the duration of receipt over a lifetime further reflect the depth of dependence. Figure IND 6. Percentage of AFDC Recipients with Long-Term Receipt, 1982 – 1991 Source: Table IND 6.

One critical aspect of dependence is how long individuals receive means-tested assistance. This indicator provides information on the length of individual spells. Figure IND 5. Spells of Program Participation, 1993 SIPP Panel Source: Table IND 5.

This indicator illustrates one aspect of the range of dependence by combining information on receipt of means-tested assistance and hours of employment. Figure IND 4a. Percentage of Recipients in Families with Labor Force Participants, 1994 Source: Unpublished data from the SIPP, 1993 panel.

Whereas other indicators (Indicator 1a) illustrate the depth of dependence in a single year, this indicator reflects changes in the level of dependence over two years. Figure IND 2. Dependency Status in 1994 of Persons who Received More Than 50 Percent of Income from Assistance in 1993

Figure A-5. Characteristics of Food Stamp Recipients Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation, Characteristics of Food Stamp Households: Fiscal Year 1998 (Advance Report) and earlier years.

This indicator captures the degree of dependence by examining total family income and the percentage of total family income from means-tested assistance programs. Figure IND 1a. Percentage of Total Income from Means-Tested Assistance Programs for the Total Population, 1994

Following the format of last year’s first annual report to Congress, this second chapter presents summary data related to twelve indicators of dependence. These indicators differ from other welfare statistics because of their emphasis on welfare dependence , rather than simple welfare receipt. As discussed in Chapter I, the Advisory Board on We

For purposes of this report, the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) has been used the most extensively and is considered the most useful national survey. Its strengths are its longitudinal design, system of monthly accounting, and detail concerning employment, income and participation in federal income-support and related programs.

Changes in dependence may or may not be associated with changes in the level of deprivation, depending on the alternative sources of support found by families who might otherwise be dependent on welfare. To assess the social impacts of any change in dependence, changes in the level of poverty or deprivation also must be considered. One way of meas

Welfare dependence, like poverty, is a continuum, with variations in degree and in duration. Families may be more or less dependent if larger or smaller shares of their total resources are derived from welfare programs. The amount of time over which a family depends on welfare might also be considered in assessing their degree of dependency.

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the specific summary measures of welfare dependence proposed by the Advisory Board. It also discusses summary measures of poverty, following the Board’s recommendation that dependence measures not be assessed in isolation from measures of deprivation.