Short- and Long-Term Effects of AFDC Receipt on Families

Using a sample of women with children from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, I look at the effects of receipt of AFDC assistance between 1968 and 1972 on attitudes and behaviors measured in 1972. I also look at the effect of AFDC receipt on the women’s hours worked and economic status up to 20 years after the measurement of AFDC receipt, and on the final educational attainments of the women’s children. While women receiving AFDC differ from non-recipients along the measures of some attitudes and behaviors, they do not differ in hours worked and economic status 20 years later. The children of recipients, however, do obtain fewer years of education than do those of non-recipients. These findings are less clear for long-term AFDC recipients.