Immigration and Welfare, 1970-1990

George Borjas

No 4872, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper uses the 1970, 1980, and 1990 Public Use Samples of the U.S. Census to trace the evolution of immigrant participation in welfare programs during the past two decades. The data indicate that immigrant participation in welfare programs is on the rise, and that the dollar costs associated with this trend are rising even faster. By 1990, immigrant households received a disproportionately high share of the cash benefits distributed in the United States. Even though only 8.4 percent of the households are foreign-born, these households accounted for 10.1 percent of all households that received public assistance, and for 13.1 percent of the total cash assistance distributed.

JEL-codes: J1 J6 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1994-09
Note: LS PE
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Published as Polachek, Solomon W. (ed.) Research in labor economics. Volume 14. Greenwich, CN and London: JAI Press, 1995.

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