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Anti‐Poverty Effects of In‐Kind Transfers Among Divorced or Separated Women in the United States
Author(s) -
Bayaz Ozturk Gulgun
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
poverty and public policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.206
H-Index - 4
ISSN - 1944-2858
DOI - 10.1002/pop4.203
Subject(s) - poverty , supplemental nutrition assistance program , welfare , earned income tax credit , economics , welfare reform , population , demographic economics , economic growth , food insecurity , demography , sociology , geography , agriculture , market economy , archaeology , food security
This study examines the anti‐poverty effects of increased welfare spending in the United States five years into the recovery (from 2009 to 2015) by focusing on an economically vulnerable population of divorced/separated women. More specifically, I examine the anti‐poverty effects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and housing and energy assistance using the Sen, Shorrocks, and Thon poverty index. I find that the anti‐poverty effects of means‐tested programs worked primarily through reduction in headcount ratio without much amelioration in poverty intensity and inequality. Large‐scale programs such as SNAP, EITC, and housing assistance were the most effective, whereas WIC, TANF, and energy assistance were the least effective programs in the fight against poverty.