Stapleton D C, Wittenburg D C, Fishman M E, Livermore G A
Soc Secur Bull. 2001;64(1):84-114.
The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) programs serve populations with similar characteristics. SSI serves adults and children with disabilities who are in low-income families, and AFDC serves low-income families with children. Because of that overlap, policy changes in one program can affect the other. In 1996, Congress enacted the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which transformed AFDC into the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Many people have expected that implementing that welfare reform legislation would eventually increase SSI participation, for two reasons. First, TANF includes new work requirements and time limits that induce more AFDC/TANF recipients with disabilities to obtain SSI benefits. Second, the change in the funding mechanism--from open-ended funding on a matching basis for AFDC to cash assistance block grants for TANF--gives states a stronger incentive to shift welfare recipients to SSI. This article examines the interaction between the SSI and AFDC programs in the prereform period (1990 to 1996) and discusses the potential implications of welfare reform on that interaction. Using matched data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation and Social Security Administration (SSA) records, our analysis focuses on how the interaction of those programs affects young women (aged 18 to 40) and children (aged 0 to 17). We find a very strong link between AFDC and SSI for young women and children. Significant portions of young female and child SSI beneficiaries in the 1990-1993 period were in AFDC families or had received AFDC in the past. In addition, a substantial share of young women and children who received AFDC during that period eventually entered SSI. Because the SSI program is now serving a much larger population of families with young women and children than in the past, SSA might need to develop policies to better serve that group. The findings also suggest that the prereform period is a poor baseline against which to measure the impact of TANF, primarily because of the instability in programs and policies.
补充保障收入（SSI）计划和对有受抚养子女家庭的援助（AFDC）计划服务于具有相似特征的人群。SSI为低收入家庭中的残疾成年人和儿童提供服务，而AFDC为有子女的低收入家庭提供服务。由于存在这种重叠，一个计划中的政策变化可能会影响另一个计划。1996年，国会颁布了《个人责任与工作机会协调法案》，该法案将AFDC转变为贫困家庭临时援助（TANF）计划。许多人预计，实施这项福利改革立法最终会增加SSI的参与人数，原因有两个。首先，TANF包括新的工作要求和时间限制，这促使更多有残疾的AFDC/TANF领取者获得SSI福利。其次，资金机制的变化——从基于匹配基础的无限制资金用于AFDC到为TANF提供现金援助整笔拨款——使各州更有动力将福利领取者转移到SSI。本文研究了改革前时期（1990年至1996年）SSI和AFDC计划之间的相互作用，并讨论了福利改革对这种相互作用的潜在影响。利用收入与计划参与调查以及社会保障管理局（SSA）记录中的匹配数据，我们的分析重点关注这些计划的相互作用如何影响年轻女性（18至40岁）和儿童（0至17岁）。我们发现AFDC和SSI对于年轻女性和儿童之间存在非常紧密的联系。在1990 - 1993年期间，相当一部分年轻女性和儿童SSI受益人来自AFDC家庭或过去曾领取过AFDC。此外，在该时期领取AFDC的年轻女性和儿童中有很大一部分最终进入了SSI。由于SSI计划现在服务的年轻女性和儿童家庭人口比过去多得多，社会保障管理局可能需要制定政策以更好地服务该群体。研究结果还表明，改革前时期作为衡量TANF影响的基准并不理想，主要是因为计划和政策存在不稳定性。
