Volume 24, Number 4 (Fall) 1989
Hutchens, Robert, George Jakubson, and Saul Schwartz. 1989. "AFDC and the Formation of Subfamilies." Journal of Human Resources 24(4):599-628.
This paper analyzes the relationship between AFDC benefits and a single mother's propensity to reside in a subfamily - i.e., within another family rather than in her own independent household. We find that some states pay lower benefits to mothers living in subfamilies. In those states, a single mother may forego a substantial amount of AFDC benefits if she chooses to reside in a subfamily rather than establish her own household. Using data from the 1984 Current Population Survey, we address the question of whether differences in AFDC benefits affect the probability that a mother will reside in a subfamily. We find that the lower benefits paid to subfamilies have discernable but small effects, and that the overall level of AFDC benefits has no effect.
Robert Hutchens and George Jakubson are professors of economics in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. Saul Schwartz is a professor of economics at Tufts University. The research reported here was supported by a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Institute for Research on Poverty. Expert assistance was provided by Luise Cunliffe. The authors have benefited from the comments and advice of Robert Aronson, John Bishop, Rebecca Blank, David Card, Sheldon Danziger, Gary Fields, Irwin Garfinkel, Joseph Hotz, Robert Lerman, Olivia Mitchell, Robert Plotnick, Aline Quester, Timothy Smeeding, Daniel Weinberg, Douglas Wolf, and participants in the Labor Workshops at Michigan and Princeton Universities. Three referees also provided unusually detailed and helpful comments. During a portion of the time in which this work was done Jakubson was a visitor in the Industrial Relations Section and Department of Economics, Princeton University. He would like to thank both for their hospitality. The authors claim responsibility for all remaining errors. Any opinions expressed here are those of the authors and not of the sponsoring institutions.
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