Nativity Differentials in Public Assistance Receipt: A Research Note

The rise in the number of immigrants since 1960 and in the higher shares from less developed countries has raised concerns that immigrants use welfare benefits more than natives. Using both descriptive tabulations, OLS regression and Tobit regression methods, we analyze immigrant‐native differentials in public assistance receipt based on 1980 U.S. Census data. The results of the OLS models show that immigrants received neither more nor less welfare income in 1979 than did otherwise comparable natives. Tobit models reveal that black and Hispanic immigrant families received lower welfare payments than their native counterparts.