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The Effectiveness of Public Assistance Payments (1970–80) in Reducing Poverty Reconsidered
Author(s) -
Dellaportas George
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1986.tb01893.x
Subject(s) - poverty , public assistance , commission , payment , socioeconomics , economics , political science , demographic economics , economic growth , welfare , finance , market economy
A bstract . The effectiveness of public assistance in reducing poverty in the U.S.A. is re‐examined by estimating the extent of public assistance among all families and of families officially defined in poverty. Also studied is the extent of public assistance among families not defined as in poverty. The findings are further analyzed for their changes during the decade 1970–80. It is found that errors of commission (assisting families not in poverty) and of omission (not assisting families in poverty) were quite widespread in 1980, although significantly reduced from their high prevalence in 1970.