INCWELFR Questions about how the variable is defined and what is included

USA
1

For INCWELFR: I am using INCWELFR for a project and have some clarification questions. I pasted the definition from the website below for convenience. What is included in general assistance? Would this include things like TANF, SNAP?

  • Additionally, the questionnaire text asks, “ Any public assistance or welfare payments from the state or local welfare office.” So, it doesn’t necessarily specify the types of support that the definition of the variable lists on IPUMS. Also, the description of the variable says “federal/state Supplemental Security Insurance(SSI)”, but the questionnaire text asks about state or local. Can you clarify?

INCWELFR reports how much pre-tax income (if any) the respondent received during the previous year from various public assistance programs commonly referred to as “welfare.” The following are included within INCWELFR:

· federal/state Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments to elderly (age 65+), blind, or disabled persons with low incomes. (In the 2000 census, the ACS, and the PRCS, SSI payments are specified in INCSUPP only, not in INCWELFR);

· Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); and

· General Assistance (GA). (This does not include separate payments for hospital or other medical care.)

2

While both SNAP and TANF are federal programs, funding is allocated to US states who then distribute it to qualified recipients. As a result, both of these should be included by respondents in INCWELFR as public assistance received from state or local welfare offices. General Assistance refers to a specific welfare program offered in certain states and localities that benefits adults without dependents (see this report for more information about the availability of General Assistance across the US). Data for INCWELFR comes from self-administered survey and census data, so determining how to report different sources of income comes down to the judgement of individual respondents. You can see the questionnaire text and any additional instruction that was provided to respondents in the variable Questionnaire tab (add samples of interest to your data cart to see the instructions for those samples).

Aside from American Community Survey and decennial census data on IPUMS USA, public assistance income (INCWELFR) is also reported in the Current Population Survey on IPUMS CPS. The CPS interview is administered by a field representative who is provided additional training and documentation to classify various sources of income. This Bureau of Economic Analysis presentation describes some of the differences in income reporting between the ACS and CPS.