Robert Paul Hartley (Ph.D 2017 alum), Carlos Lamarche and James P. Ziliak's paper, "Welfare Reform and the Intergenerational Transmission of Dependence," was published in the Journal of Political Economy, which is considered one of the Top 5 journals in the Economics profession.
Abstract: We investigate the effect of welfare reform on intergenerational welfare participation, using mother-daughter pairs in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We find that a mother’s Aid to Families with Dependent Children/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (AFDC/TANF) participation increased her daughter’s odds of adult participation in that program by roughly 25 percentage points or more, but that welfare reform attenuated this transmission by at least 50%. However, there is no diminution of transmission after welfare reform when we consider the wider safety net or other outcomes. Daughters who grew up with mothers on AFDC/TANF were no better off after reform, with substitution toward other welfare programs over generations.
