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Title: The Origins of Generosity and Racial Exclusion in American Welfare

Co-authors: Price Fishback, Niketana Kannan, Adriana Lleras-Muney and James Uguccioni

Abstract: What are the origins of U.S. welfare generosity? Using newly digitized historical welfare records from 1911-1935, we show that while most states passed welfare -- known as Mothers' Pensions -- by 1930, only 37% of counties within those states ever administered transfers. We find that counties with large black populations were unlikely to provide transfers and that welfare generosity is correlated with high immigrant populations. Local political leanings and the strength of the women’s movement had modest effects on early programs, in line with previous work. Despite sweeping racial and political shifts since the 1910s, the most generous states historically remain the most generous states today.