American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
The Long-Term Effects of Cash Assistance
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
(pp. 154–99)
Abstract
We investigate the long-term effects of cash assistance on beneficiaries and their children among participants in the Seattle-Denver Income Maintenance Experiment. Treated families in this randomized experiment received thousands of dollars in extra government benefits for three or five years in the 1970s. We match experimental records to Social Security Administration data using a novel algorithm, finding that treatment decreased adults' postexperimental annual earnings by $1,800 and increased their disability benefit applications. Effects were strongest around retirement age; evidence suggests possible occupational mechanisms. In contrast, children experienced no significant effects on earnings or interaction with the disability system.Citation
Price, David J., and Jae Song. 2026. "The Long-Term Effects of Cash Assistance." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 18 (4): 154–99. DOI: 10.1257/app.20210064Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G51 Household Finance: Household Saving, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
- H55 Social Security and Public Pensions
- H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
- I32 Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
- I38 Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J14 Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination