Means-Tested Programs

Means-tested programs limit eligibility to individuals and families whose incomes and or assets fall below a pre-determined threshold (means test). They are generally financed by tax revenues and may take the form of entitlements (e.g., Medicaid, SNAP/Food Stamps) or have spending caps (e.g., State Child Health Insurance Program, housing subsidies, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families).

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Experimental Estimates of the Barriers to Food Stamp Enrollment

  • Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach
  • Discussion Paper
  • September 2009
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Measuring the “faith factor” in social service program outcomes

  • Jennifer L. Noyes
  • Fast Focus Policy Brief
  • June 2009
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Changing Poverty and Changing Antipoverty Policies

  • Maria Cancian and Sheldon Danziger
  • Discussion Paper
  • April 2009
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From Policy to Polity: Democracy, Paternalism, and the Incorporation of Disadvantaged Citizens

  • Sarah K. Bruch, Myra Marx Ferree, and Joe Soss
  • Discussion Paper
  • January 2009
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The School Breakfast Program and Breakfast Consumption

  • Geetha M. Waehrer
  • Discussion Paper
  • October 2008
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Inside the War on Poverty: The Impact of Food Stamps on Birth Outcomes

  • Douglas Almond, Hilary W. Hoynes, and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach
  • Discussion Paper
  • October 2008
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Poverty Politics and Policy

  • Mary Jo Bane
  • Discussion Paper
  • September 2008
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Patterns of Long-Term Utilization of Medicaid and Food Stamps by Wisconsin Welfare Leavers

  • Robert Haveman; Thomas Kaplan; Barbara Wolfe; with Sandra Barone
  • Report
  • July 2002