WELFARE AND THE FAMILY - THE UNITED-STATES EXPERIENCE

After describing the development and dimensions of the American welfar e system, this paper explores the relationship of illegitimacy to welf are. Alternative measures of illegitimacy are discussed. The relations hip of the welfare package and the illegitimacy ratio is examined over time and across states, by race. A bivariate relationship of welfare and illegitimacy exists among whites, but not among blacks. Among blac ks, a strong cross-state relationship exists between density of the bl ack population and the illegitimacy ratio. The relationship is robust, persisting after controlling for a variety of demographic and economi c variables, and persisting across time.