Forcing welfare recipients off the dole may place them at an increased risk of early death, according to a new study. Researchers at Columbia University looked at two populations of people — one group that was pushed off welfare and another group that received unrestricted benefits.
The 1996 Federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act defined strict limits for the amount of time individuals could receive welfare, while collecting data on those who were given job training instead of welfare.
Researchers looked at the data from one study conducted in Escambia County, Florida between 1994 and 1999. The data set included 3,224 people, 1,611 of which had to get jobs, and another 1,613 of which continued to get welfare.
According to the data, 4.7 percent of the first group was dead by 2011, while only 4.2 percent of the latter group had died in the same span. Researchers also found that while those in the first group got jobs, they were unable to make enough money to equal welfare and food benefits received by the second group.
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