The decline of welfare benefits in the US: the role of wage inequality

• 成果类型: Article; Proceedings Paper
• 署名作者: Moffitt, R; Ribar, D; Wilhelm, M
• 署名单位: Johns Hopkins University; National Bureau of Economic Research; George Washington University; Purdue University System; Purdue University; Purdue University in Indianapolis
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/S0047-2727(98)00017-6
• 发表日期: 1998
• 页码: 421-452
• 关键词: welfare benefits; usa; wage inequality

摘要

Welfare benefits in the U.S. have experienced a much-studied secular decline since the mid-1970s. We explore a new hypothesis for this decline related to the increase in wage inequality in the labor market and the decline of real wages at the bottom of the distribution: we posit that voters prefer benefits which are tied to low-skilled wages. We test the hypothesis using a 1969-1992 panel of state-level data. An additional contribution of our analysis is the use of General Social Survey data on voter preferences for welfare which we combine with Current Population Survey data to determine the voter in each state who has the median preferred welfare benefit level. Our analysis reveals considerable evidence in support of a role for declining real wages in the decline of welfare benefits. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.