INDICATOR 10. RATES OF PARTICIPATION IN MEANS-TESTED ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

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.

• The percentage of all eligible families who participated in AFDC declined 3 percentage points (from 80 percent to 77 percent) between 1981 and 1987. Between 1987 and 1989, the percentage of eligible families participating in AFDC increased substantially, from 77 percent to 84 percent. After reaching a peak of 86 percent in 1992, the percentage declined in 1993 and remained stable in 1994.

Table IND 10a. AFDC Caseload as a Percent of Eligible Families

Source: Number of eligibles estimated by the Urban Institute using TRIM model simulations. Caseload based on data from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

• In all years, larger percentages of children in eligible households received Food Stamps compared to other age groups, and smaller percentages of the elderly in eligible households received Food Stamps compared to other adults and children.
• For disabled persons under age 60, the percentage in eligible households who received Food Stamps increased substantially between 1985 and 1994, from 47 percent in 1985 to 71 percent in 1994.

Table IND 10b. Food Stamp Households as a Percent of Eligible Households

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Service, Trends in Food Stamp Program Participation Rates, various years.

• For all adults, the percentage of those eligible who received SSI remained constant between 1993 and 1994 (63 percent) and increased substantially in 1995 (from 63 percent to 70 percent).
• For all adults in 1995, a larger percentage of eligible disabled adults in one-person units participated in the SSI program (74 percent) compared to both eligible aged adults in one-person units (65 percent) and adults in married-couple units (52 percent).

Table IND 10c. SSI Adult Recipients by Type as a Percent of Eligible Group

Note: The figure for married-couple units is based on very small sample sizes-married couple units were only about 5 percent of the adult units in the average month of 1995.

Source: Number of eligibles estimated by the Urban Institute using TRIM model simulations.

INDICATOR 11. MEANS-TESTED ASSISTANCE PROGRAM TRANSITION RATES

This indicator shows how many people have moved onto means-tested assistance programs and how many recipients have moved off means-tested assistance programs over time.

• Figure IND 11 shows the percentage of non-recipients that moved onto assistance. It also shows the percentage of recipients that transferred off assistance. Because there are many more non-recipients than recipients, it is not surprising that transition rates off assistance are significantly higher than those moving onto assistance.
• More AFDC recipients moved off the program than recipients of Food Stamps or SSI. One would expect SSI to have a lower transition rate than the other programs because the program is designed in part to provide longer-term assistance to the elderly.
• More non-recipients moved onto Food Stamps than any other program.

Table IND 11. Percent of Non-Recipients Moving onto Means-Tested Assistance and Percent of Recipients Moving off Means-Tested Assistance from 1992 to 1993

Note: Receipt is measured by at least one month of receipt in a given year and non-receipt is measured as no months of receipt in a given year.

Source: Unpublished data from the SIPP, 1992 panel.

• As shown in Table IND 11, a slightly larger percentage of female recipients than male recipients moved off SSI. In contrast to the SSI program, much smaller percentages of female recipients than male recipients moved off the AFDC program and the Food Stamp program.
• Table IND 11 shows that a larger percentage of non-Hispanic white recipients moved off assistance than other racial groups receiving assistance. Similarly, non-Hispanic white non-recipients were less likely to move onto assistance than non-recipients of other racial groups.

INDICATOR 12. INTERGENERATIONAL DEPENDENCE

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.

• These figures show the percent of women who did or did not receive AFDC or Food Stamps (any amount for any month within each year) as children age 14 to 16 and who later received AFDC or Food Stamps as adults age 25 to 27 for one or three years.
• Children who received AFDC or Food Stamps were more likely to receive as an adult than children who did not receive AFDC or Food Stamps. Children who received AFDC or Food Stamps also were more likely to receive AFDC or Food Stamps for one rather than three years as an adult.
• A smaller percentage of children born between 1960 - 1964 who received AFDC or Food Stamps between the ages of 14 and 16, received AFDC or Food Stamps as adults compared to children born between 1954 - 1959.
• Table IND 12 shows that smaller percentages of male than female children who received AFDC or Food Stamps between the ages of 14 and 16 also received AFDC or Food Stamps as adults for both birth-year cohorts.

Table IND 12. Association of Benefit Receipt Between Parents and their Sons and Daughters

Note: Receipt of AFDC or Food Stamps in a year refers to any amount at any point during the year.

Source: Unpublished data from the PSID, 1968 - 1992.