Document Type
Article
Version
Final Published Version
Publication Title
Social Service Review
Volume
71
Publication Date
12-1-1997
Abstract
Linking data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics with the 1970 and 1980 censuses, the author finds that, in accordance with the social isolation theory, neighborhood conditions greatly affect the likelihood of exiting the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Neighborhood conditions are especially strong predictors of leaving the program for African Americans, high school dropouts, and for those who marry. Members of each of these groups stay on welfare significantly longer when they live in the most economically depressed neighborhoods of neighborhoods with a relatively high proportion of manufacturing relative to professional and executive workers. I test two additional theories of neighborhood effects: relative deprivation and epidemic theories.
Publisher's Statement
© 1997 by University of Chicago Press.
Citation
Vartanian, Thomas P. "Neighborhood Effects on AFDC Exits: Examining the Social Isolation, Relative Deprivation, and Epidemic Theories." Social Service Review 71 (1997): 548-573.