The Working Poor and Welfare Recipiency

Many participants in the current welfare debate assume that welfare recipients are taking unfair advantage of
government programs by avoiding work. However, a growing body of research indicates that this assumption
is untrue. In this working paper, Resident Scholar Marlene Kim and Thanos Mergoupis, of the Department of
Economics at Rutgers University, show that many who qualify for benefits—food stamps, aid to families with
dependent children (AFDC), and Medicaid—do not receive assistance. Moreover, many who qualify work many
hours, are in families headed by married couples, are in their prime working years, and have at least a high
school education.
In their study of the decision