For Immediate Release
August 24, 2005
Contact: Gordon De Jong, Pennsylvania State University, 814-863-2277, dejong@pop.psu.edu
State Welfare Policies, Job Opportunities Drive Poor Families' Interstate Moves
Poor families are less likely than conventionally assumed to move from state to state based on the stringency or generosity of state welfare policies, according to research published in the August issue of the journal Demography .
The study, coauthored by Penn State University researchers Gordon De Jong and Deborah Roempke Graefe and graduate student Tanja St. Pierre, did find that poor families are more likely to leave states that have instituted more stringent welfare eligibility requirements and behavior-related rules in the wake of the 1996 welfare reforms. But their research also indicates that states with more lenient welfare rules did not attract poor families from other states.
"This finding does not support the notion of "welfare magnets," reports De Jong. "More lenient welfare rules did not attract poor migrants, although states with more generous monetary benefits did attract migrants. And having stringent welfare policies does not stop poor families from choosing those states as migration destinations."
Previous studies of welfare-motivated migration focused only on the size of the welfare check and failed to find consistent evidence that welfare benefits encourage poor families to move. This study finds that the inequalities in state welfare policies enacted following welfare reform are now part of a complex mix of incentives that include not just the size of the welfare check but the trade-offs among welfare eligibility requirements, behavior-related rules and job opportunities.
To analyze the interstate migration of poor families, the researchers examined the stringency to leniency of state welfare programs, focusing on differing eligibility requirements and behavior-related rules (time limits, work requirements, restrictions based on drug convictions, etc.). They also took into account the generosity of state welfare payments and each state's economic climate.
Welfare payments and policies were long thought to have a particularly powerful influence on single mothers' migration decisions, but the researchers found that poor single mothers were no more likely to move to another state than poor two-parent families and single fathers.
Also, the researchers report that states with relatively stringent welfare regulations but thriving economies tended to attract migrants. "The pull of employment opportunities was greater, offsetting the negative effect of more stringent welfare policies," explains Graefe. Returning to a previous state of residence also was a major explanation for poor migrants' destination choices.
The full article, "Welfare Reform and Interstate Migration of Poor Families," is available at www.prb.org/cpipr/demography/De_Jong.pdf. Or call the Center for Public Information on Population Research at 202-939-5409. The Center, a project of the Population Reference Bureau, is funded by the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development.
Demography is the peer-reviewed journal published by the Population Association of America.