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10 Receipt of Public Assistance by Mexican American and Cuban American Children in Native and Immigrant Families
Pages 546-583

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From page 546...
... of August 1996 restricting immigrants' access to public assistance. This new legislation denies some forms of public assistance (e.g., food stamps)
From page 547...
... The issue is whether immigrants' needs represent a disproportionate burden on federal funds relative to those of comparable natives. This chapter focuses on public assistance receipt by native and immigrant Mexican and Cuban American children and their families compared with children in white native families using data collected from 1990 to 1995 in a nationally representative survey that oversampled Mexican and Cuban American families.
From page 548...
... Finally, poor economic conditions in the local community, such as high unemployment rates, may make receipt of public assistance more likely. Previous Research Other studies have conducted in-depth comparisons of the public assistance receipt of immigrants compared with natives.
From page 549...
... A recent paper based on the Survey of Income and Program Participation reports that, while immigrant-native differences in the probability of receiving cash benefits were small, differences widened once noncash benefits were included, since immigrants generally tended to have higher receipt of noncash benefits (Borjas and Hilton, 1996~. Households whose head was foreign born were found to receive cash benefits, Medicaid, and vouchers (food stamps, WIC, heating assistance)
From page 550...
... . The latter should be more likely to receive public assistance purely because of increased eligibility.
From page 551...
... This would suggest highest receipt of public assistance by the third generation. Evidence for this hypothesis is not very strong, however, as few studies have detailed the kinds of values, behaviors, and parenting practices of immigrant and native groups that are needed to test this hypothesis.
From page 552...
... The full analysis sample consists of - -r ~ -- - -r -- , 221 foreign-born Mexican American children (first generation) ; 1,116 native-born Mexican children of a foreign-born parent (second generation)
From page 553...
... Children in black, other Latino, and Puerto Rican families are in the next-largest-size families, with about 2.5 children each, and children in Cuban families are in the smallest families, with 1.9 in first-generation Cuban children's families, 2 children in second-generation children's families, and 1.6 children in third-generation children's families. White children's families averaged 2.2 children.
From page 554...
... 554 PUBLIC ASSISTANCE AND MEXICAN AND CUBAN AMERICANS TABLE 10-1 Characteristics of U.S. Chilclren and Their Families by Ethnicity and Nativity, 1992 Age of Marital Age of Number of Household Status Youngest Children Age Head Health of Head Child Under 18 Mexican1 13.10 40.12 0.18 0.77 6.03 3.83 Mexican2 7.42 37.79 0.31 0.84 4.54 3.02 Mexicans 7.88 35.09 0.61 0.60 5.34 2.60 Mexican4 8.73 44.42 0.24 0.49 5.31 2.55 Cuban1 14.49 42.60 0.45 0.93 10.17 1.87 Cuban2 7.12 42.00 0.41 0.74 5.57 2.06 Cubans 4.97 31.20 0.68 0.88 4.33 1.59 Cuban4 9.70 54.93 0.11 0.74 9.70 1.00 Puerto Rican 8.00 36.40 0.34 0.48 5.58 2.52 Other Latino 8.44 36.44 0.63 0.69 6.24 2.50 White 8.56 37.98 0.69 0.85 6.70 2.23 Black 8.12 36.36 0.46 0.39 5.50 2.51 Other 5.67 36.41 0.75 0.74 4.33 1.74 Total 8.41 37.52 0.61 0.74 6.29 2.34 High Poverty Less Than School Some Status High School Graduate College College Degree Missing or Higher Education Mexican1 0.62 0.84 0.12 0.01 0.01 0.01 Mexican2 0.31 0.66 0.18 0.07 0.04 0.05 Mexicans 0.31 0.44 0.29 0.19 0.05 0.03 Mexican4 0.35 0.65 0.15 0.13 0.02 0.06 Cuban1 0.13 0.30 0.34 0.24 0.13 0.00 Cuban2 0.23 0.23 0.34 0.21 0.11 0.10 Cubans 0.08 0.23 0.42 0.06 0.27 0.01 Cuban4 0.16 0.66 0.19 0.00 0.16 0.00 Puerto Rican 0.45 0.57 0.27 0.07 0.04 0.05 Other Latino 0.21 0.17 0.49 0.17 0.10 0.08 White 0.08 0.16 0.33 0.21 0.29 0.01 Black 0.41 0.29 0.44 0.18 0.07 0.02 Other 0.15 0.22 0.25 0.15 0.34 0.04 Total 0.17 0.23 0.34 0.20 0.22 0.02
From page 555...
... Twenty-nine percent of black and 17 percent of other Latino children lived in families in which the head had less than a high school education. In contrast, only 16 percent of white children lived in a family in which the head had less than a high school education; 50 percent lived in a family in which the head had completed at least some college.
From page 556...
... Poverty rates for families of Cuban children are quite low; third-generation Cuban children's families are no more likely than white children's families to be poor. Geographic Location One major difference between Mexicans and Cubans is where they settle in the United States.
From page 557...
... Nativeborn families of Mexican American children and Cuban children have lower rates of receipt of public assistance than families of black children. Nativity Differences Looking at receipt of all forms of assistance, it can be seen that families of second- and third-generation Mexican American children have lower levels of receipt than do families of first-generation children.
From page 558...
... 558 PUBLIC ASSISTANCE AND MEXICAN AND CUBAN AMERICANS TABLE 10-2 Proportion of U.S. Chilclren Receiving Public Assistance by Ethnicity and Nativity, 1 992 Other Food AFDC SSI Welfare Stamps Medicaid Mexican1 0.03 0.00 0.07 0.47 0.38 Mexican2 0.05 0.03 0.04 0.26 0.24 Mexicans 0.18 0.05 0.03 0.30 0.26 Mexican4 0.15 0.09 0.12 0.37 0.49 Cuban1 0.04 0.06 0.00 0.22 0.25 Cuban2 0.04 0.08 0.05 0.25 0.37 Cubans 0.07 0.20 0.00 0.10 0.31 Cuban4 0.06 0.06 0.00 0.06 0.06 PRican 0.11 0.07 0.17 0.37 0.44 Other Latino 0.23 0.03 0.05 0.24 0.27 White 0.04 0.02 0.01 0.08 0.08 Black 0.27 0.06 0.05 0.42 0.37 Other 0.05 0.03 0.03 0.14 0.18 Total 0.09 0.03 0.02 0.17 0.17 Housing Heating Cash Noncash Total Mexican1 0.17 0.25 0.10 0.59 0.61 Mexican2 0.07 0.10 0.11 0.37 0.38 Mexicans 0.11 0.18 0.23 0.44 0.45 Mexican4 0.04 0.11 0.31 0.58 0.61 Cuban1 0.04 0.02 0.07 0.32 0.32 Cuban2 0.06 0.01 0.16 0.40 0.40 Cubans 0.05 0.00 0.27 0.35 0.35 Cuban4 0.26 0.00 0.06 0.33 0.33 PRican 0.30 0.21 0.31 0.60 0.60 Other Latino 0.11 0.17 0.23 0.29 0.29 White 0.02 0.05 0.06 0.14 0.14 Black 0.25 0.17 0.34 0.58 0.60 Other 0.07 0.00 0.11 0.24 0.27 Total 0.08 0.09 0.13 0.26 0.27 NOTE: 1 = first generation; 2 = second generation; 3 = third generation; 4 = missing generation.
From page 559...
... Firstgeneration Mexican American children, in contrast, live in families that are more likely to receive other welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, heating assistance, and housing assistance than secondand third-generation children. This table does not adjust for the large socioeconomic and demographic differences shown in Table 10-2 among the different ethnic and nativity groups.
From page 560...
... 3.17* Puerto Rican 8.98*
From page 561...
... SANDRA L HOFFERTH 561 Receipt of Noncash Assistance Food One or One or Stamps Medicaid Housing Heating More More Cash or Noncash 5.55*
From page 562...
... 5.34* 2.07 Puerto Rican 2.57*
From page 563...
... SANDRA L HOFFERTH 563 Receipt of Noncash Assistance Cash or Noncash Food One or One or Stamps Medicaid Housing Heating More More 1.25 1.48*
From page 564...
... 0.75 1.55 2.09* Missing 0.89 1.52 2.86 1.30 Puerto Rican 0.99 2.15*
From page 565...
... 1.09 1.12* Receipt of Noncash Assistance Food Stamps Medicaid Housing Cash or Noncash One or One or Heating More More Mexican First generation 0.58*
From page 566...
... Cash Assistance The three components of cash assistance are AFDC, SSI, and other welfare programs. Six percent of white children in the study lived in families receiving cash assistance in a single year, on average, during the early l990s.
From page 567...
... Once differences in year, region of residence, and poverty status are controlled, both first- and second-generation Mexican children are significantly less likely to be in families receiving AFDC, whereas third-generation children remain significantly more likely to be in families receiving AFDC than white children. Controlling for additional demographic factors increases the gap in public assistance receipt between first- and second-generation Mexican Americans and native whites but does not change the conclusions.
From page 568...
... Greater SSI use by minority Mexican American children can be explained by their demographic characteristics but not their economic status. Once poverty as well as region and year are controlled, first- and second-generation Mexican children remain more likely to receive SSI than white children, although only the coefficient for the second generation is statistically significant.
From page 569...
... Predicted probabilities of SSI receipt are shown in Figure 10-2. Adjusting for all socioeconomic and demographic variables, first- and second-generation Cuban children remain significantly more likely to be in families receiving SSI, but the third generation does not differ from white children in SSI receipt.
From page 570...
... Third-generation Cuban children were significantly more likely to live in families receiving welfare until demographic factors were controlled; once controlled, the difference between them and native whites was still positive but no longer statistically significant. Noncash Benefits Noncash benefits are the most common form of public assistance, with 14 percent of white children living in families receiving food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance, or heating assistance in a single year.
From page 571...
... more likely to be in such families. When adjustment is also made for differences in demographic characteristics, first-generation Mexican children become 42 percent less likely to be in families receiving food stamps than native-born white children, and second-generation children are neither more or less likely than white children to be in families receiving food stamps.
From page 572...
... Second- and third-generation Cuban children are also highly likely to be in such families. Puerto Rican and black children also are more likely than white children to be in families receiving Medicaid.
From page 573...
... Housing is the only form of assistance in which first-generation Mexican American children are as likely as third-generation children and more likely than white children to receive public assistance. This relationship persists even after controls are introduced for socioeconomic status and demographic characteristics.
From page 574...
... On average, 5 percent of white children were in families that received assistance in heating their homes. The differences between Mexican children and white children in the receipt of heating assistance are due to both economic and demo
From page 575...
... Once poverty status is controlled, Cuban children are less likely than white children to live in families receiving heating assistance. This could be due to differences in where these groups locate in the United States, with first- and second-generation Mexican Americans and Cubans residing in more temperate climates than Puerto Ricans.
From page 576...
... The public perception is that minority groups are heavy users of public assistance programs, and it is the case that the chance of a minority child's family receiving public assistance is higher than that of a white family; however, this is not due to recent immigration. When socioeconomic and demographic factors are controlled, first-generation Mexican American children are less likely to receive AFDC, SSI, food stamps, Medicaid, and heating assistance than are whites; they are more likely to receive housing assistance.
From page 577...
... In contrast, Cuban children are more likely than white children to receive all forms of public assistance, regardless of nativity, once other factors are controlled. First-generation Cuban American children live in families that are about as likely to receive AFDC, other welfare, housing assistance, and heating assistance as whites.
From page 578...
... While Cubans have high rates of public assistance in the first two generations, they are integrated by the third generation, perhaps at least partly because of the assistance they received. In contrast, the analyses I conducted showed that for several forms of public assistance it is third-generation Mexican American children (not those of the first or second generation)
From page 579...
... 1997 The Effects of Tenant-Based and Project-Based Housing Assistance on Employment. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Western Economic Association, Seattle, July 10-12.
From page 580...
... These counties provide coverage of slightly more than 90 percent of the three most prevalent Latino groups in the United States: Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Mexican American. Cuban and Puerto Rican households were selected at substantially higher rates to obtain larger samples of the two groups so that analysts could make more precise statements about them.
From page 581...
... Similar to Borjas and Hilton (1996) , the measures of public assistance receipt of a child's family include AFDC, SSI, other welfare, Medicaid, food stamps, heating assistance, and housing assistance (rent subsidy or public housing)
From page 582...
... 582 PUBLIC ASSISTANCE AND MEXICAN AND CUBAN AMERICANS Education of Household Head. This comes from a series of questions about schooling that are updated each year only for new heads.
From page 583...
... For Cuban children there are 156 first-generation child-years, 623 second-generation child-years, and 125 third-generation child-years, with 61 missing child-years. We observed 1,727 Puerto Rican child-years.


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