Social Welfare Receipt, Race, and Participatory Behavior

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines how the resources associated with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the Unemployment Insurance program affect political participation. The research on policy feedback on mass publics has produced greater results relative to research on feedback and political participation. However, prior research has not disaggregated resource feedback effects thoroughly enough to decipher whether the monetary resources provided by a social welfare program are independent of the effects of the duration of receipt nor have they disaggregated the effects by race to estimate the racialized feedback effects. This is crucial because the primary questions surrounding the development of social welfare programs are: who should get it, how much they should get, and how long they should get it for. Research has also found that social welfare programs can produce disparate resource feedback effects, both encouraging and discouraging participatory behavior. To answer these questions, I utilize the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. I incorporate three comprehensive measures of social welfare receipt which allow the estimation of the effects over time. I find that the amount of aid received, and the duration of receipt are both significant factors in shaping participatory behavior but depending on the program I find heterogeneous effects. The disparate effects persist across social welfare programs and race.