Abstracts Category : Other

Public Assistance Use among Young Adults: Variations byParental Nativity

by Lydia R Anderson

The economic effect of immigration on the UnitedStates economy and its cost to American citizens has long been ofpublic policy concern. Particularly, there is concern aboutimmigrants taking advantage of the United States welfare system,which in part led to the nativity-based restrictions in thePersonal Responsibility Work Opportunity and Reconciliation Act in1996. However, much of the research on the welfare receipt of thechildren of immigrants is based on data collected during the 1990sor is based on select geographic samples, and therefore does notrepresent the newest waves of immigrants and their children. Usingdata from the 2012-2016 Current Population Survey, Annual Socialand Economic Supplement, this study presents the current publicassistance use of a nationally representative sample of young adult(25-29) children of immigrants and the children of natives.Additionally, using data from the 2001 American Community Survey,this study utilizes a mean grouping estimation strategy to examinethe intergenerational relationship between parent programparticipation and young adult program participation andsocioeconomic achievement. This study finds that among those livingat or below 185% of the federal poverty line, the young adultchildren of immigrants have lower levels of cash assistance, foodstamp, and Medicaid receipt than the young adult children ofnatives. In particular, the young adult children of CentralAmerican immigrants are less likely to utilize public assistanceprograms than the young adult children of natives. The results alsosuggest that there is no intergenerational transmission of publicassistance use between a cohort of immigrant parents and a cohortof the young adult children of immigrants, but that immigrantparents may use public assistance programs as a way to invest intheir childrens educational attainment.Advisors/Committee Members: Balistreri, Kelly (Advisor).