Welfare Reform, Saving, and Vehicle Ownership:
Do Asset Limits and Vehicle Exemptions Matter?
Upjohn Institute Working Paper 05-117
James X. Sullivan
University of Notre Dame
e-mail: sullivan.197@nd.edu
2005
Abstract
This paper examines whether AFDC/TANF asset tests affect the asset holdings of low-educated
single mothers, exploiting variation in asset limits and exemptions across states and over time.
There are important reasons to examine vehicle assets in this context. For example, vehicles
make up a very significant share of total wealth for poor families, and the variation in vehicle
exemptions over time and across states far exceeds the variation in asset limits. Consistent with
other recent research, I find little evidence that asset limits have an effect on the amount of
liquid assets that single mothers hold. However, I find evidence that vehicle exemptions do
have an important effect on vehicle assets. The findings suggest that moving from a $1500
vehicle exemption to a full vehicle exemption increases the probability of owning a car by 20
percentage points for low-educated single mothers relative to a comparison group. Also, the
results indicate that single mothers are not substituting vehicle equity for liquid assets in
response to more relaxed restrictions on vehicles.
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