During a time of national and local debate over welfare reform, research is needed to determine the effectiveness of specific welfare programs and the impact on the lives of households participating in these programs. The objective of this study was to determine the effect housing and food expenditures have on the diet quality of low-income families. Participants for the study were drawn from government-subsidized housing rolls and housing assistance waiting lists. Diet quality was measured by 16 variables: percent RDA protein, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium consumed; percent calories from protein, carbohydrates, fat, and alcohol; and the number of servings from each food group: bread and cereal, fruit, vegetable, meat and protein, dairy, and fats and sweets food groups. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to analyze the relationship between the percent poverty level of the household and the percent of income spent on housing and food with each diet quality variable. No statistically significant correlations were found. Mann-Whitney U tests and t tests were used to determine if diet quality of participants who received housing assistance was different from participants who did not receive assistance. No statistical significance was found. Participant's diets who received food assistance and diets of participants who do not receive food assistance were also analyzed to determine any differences in diet quality. Again, no statistical significance was found between the two groups. The diets of the sample population were found to be fairly average in comparison to overall food consumption patterns of the United States. Consumption of fiber, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products was low. Increased consumer education programs are recommended to improve overall diet.

This study conducted an audience analysis investigating welfare attitudes for Welfare Services, a division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The data and results of this study were used by Welfare Services to prepare and present its message to its Mormon and non-Mormon audience. The sample population consisted of 170 respondents (130 Mormons and 40 non-Mormons). The study examined three areas: (1) Where people go when in need of assistance; (2) Rights and obligations associated with assistance; (3) Attitudinal perspectives of welfare and assistance.The findings of this study indicate that when in need, most people will first go to their families. Most people feel they have every right to ask and receive assistance from government agencies. Mormons report a right to receive help from their church; most non-Mormons do not feel a right to receive help from their respective churches. Most people report a willingness to repay assistance no matter who the assistance is received from. Welfare is viewed by most as a necessary evil. A major problem in receiving assistance is loss of self-esteem by welfare recipients.

Since its inception in 1993, nearly 90,000 high school dropouts have completed the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, a youth diversion program for unemployed high school dropouts. As of 2008, 27 states have partnered with the military to implement this residential program for at-risk youth. There is limited research on this new social welfare program despite its representing a dynamic military-state-welfare relationship. This study examines state-level conditions and looks to answer three research questions: 1) Under what conditions do states start a ChalleNGe program?; 2) What role do time-varying social and economic factors have in influencing states to initially adopt the program?; and 3) To what extent does the racial composition of program sites reflect the racial composition of its host state's young high school drop-outs? I examined state-level social and economic conditions using data from a variety of federal agencies and public opinion surveys. I examined social and economic circumstances that may have influenced state-level participation. Due to the nature of time-dependent variables and states' launching programs as various times since 1993, I used an event history analysis to predict the timing of initiation of a ChalleNGe program. The results of this research indicate that high unemployment rates and low high school graduation rates increase the likelihood that a state will create a ChalleNGe program. The results from this study provide insight into the creation and expansion of the ChalleNGe program as well as the changing role of military as a part of the welfare state.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if and what effect universal and means-tested welfare programs have on people's (different forms of) trust. This is done through an experimental design in order to be able to demonstrate a causal relationship between the design of welfare programs and the perceived level of trustin individuals. A total of 98 students from Midsweden University in Sundsvall, Sweden, participated in the experiment. The respondents were divided into two experimental groups that had to fill out a trust-survey that was preceded by one out of two separate welfare scenarios – a means-tested one or a universal one. The results confirms the hypothesis that universal welfare programs create a statistically significantly higher universal trust than means-tested programs, but not the hypothesis that means-tested programs create a statistically significantly higher particularized trust than universal welfare programs. At the same time the results show that universal welfare programs create a statistically significantly higher universal trust than particularized trust and that means-tested programs create a statistically significantly higher partizularized trust than universal trust. Finally the results also provide empirical support for the existence of a causal relationship between the design of welfare programs and the level of trust in individuals and society. / <p>2019-06-04</p>