Drug Use and AFDC Participation: Is There a Connection?

Robert Kaestner ()

No 5555, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Drug use and welfare are two serious social problems that have received widespread public attention. Recently, it has been suggested that illicit drug use is a major cause of welfare, although there is only anecdotal evidence to support such a claim. This paper provides the first systematic analysis of the issue by examining the relationship between illicit drug use and welfare participation among a nationally representative sample of young adults. The results indicate that past year drug use, predominantly marijuana use, is positively related to future welfare participation for both non-black and black women. The magnitude of the drug effect, however, is modest: if drug use among welfare participants was reduced to the levels of non-participants, welfare participation would decline by approximately one percent.

JEL-codes: I38 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996-05
Note: HE
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