The Public Charge Rule and Program Participation Among U.S. Citizens

• Published date: 01 January 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00027162241293910
• Author: Kristin F. Butcher,Luojia Hu,Ryan Perry
• Date: 01 January 2024
• Subject Matter: Dynamics of Poverty, Work, and Policy

170 ANNALS, AAPSS, 711, January 2024

DOI: 10.1177/00027162241293910

The Public

Charge Rule

and Program

Participation

Among U.S.

Citizens

By

KRISTIN F. BUTCHER,

LUOJIA HU,

and

RYAN PERRY

1293910ANN THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMYTHE PUBLIC CHARGE RULE AND PROGRAM PARTICIPATION

research-article2024

Use of public assistance by noncitizens is controversial.

Before 2018, institutionalization and receipt of cash

benefits were considered as evidence of whether immi-

grants were likely to become a “public charge” and,

therefore, ineligible for citizenship. But a new rule—

proposed in 2018 and finalized in 2020—also made

participation in SNAP/Food Stamps and Medicaid rel-

evant as evidence. We examine whether participation in

SNAP/Food Stamps and Medicaid among U.S.-born

children—whose own eligibility for program participa-

tion should be unaffected by the new rule—has

changed, based on the citizenship status of their par-

ents. We find evidence that, after the 2018 proposal,

U.S.-born children with noncitizen parents are less

likely than the children of U.S.-born parents to partici-

pate in these programs. We discuss the literature on

“chilling effects” and on the impact of safety net pro-

grams on children’s long-term outcomes.

Keywords: immigration; safety net; public charge

rule; SNAP/Food Stamps; Medicaid;

Medicare

Immigrants are a growing fraction of the

U.S. population.1 Commensurate with this

increase, Figure 1 shows that U.S. citizens,

particularly U.S.-born children, are very likely

Correspondence: kristin.butcher@chi.frb.org

Kristin F. Butcher is vice president and director of

microeconomic research at the Federal Reserve Bank of

Chicago. She is an applied microeconomist researching

issues in labor, health, and education. She is the inau-

gural holder of the Marshall I. Goldman Chair in

Economics at Wellesley College.

Luojia Hu is a senior economist and economic advisor

at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. She conducts

research in econometrics, labor economics, and con-

sumer finance. She previously held positions as an

assistant professor of economics at Northwestern

University and a visiting research fellow at Princeton

University.

Ryan Perry is a senior research assistant at the Federal

Reserve Bank of Chicago on the microeconomics team.

She has research interests in labor, immigration, and

finance.

THE PUBLIC CHARGE RULE AND PROGRAM PARTICIPATION 171

to live with at least one noncitizen. The share of U.S.-born children with at

least one foreign-born parent has increased and now accounts for about

23 percent of U.S.-born children (Batalova 2024). The foreign-born are more

likely to have lower education levels that those born in the U.S.2 and make

up a disproportionate share of those with lower-income levels. In this article,

we want to understand how participation of U.S.-born children in two impor-

tant safety net programs—Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

(SNAP)/Food Stamps (nutritional assistance) and Medicaid (health insur-

ance for lower-income people)—has changed over time based on the citizen-

ship status of their parents.

Why might participation have changed over time based on parental citizen-

ship status? There are two ways in which immigration status and use of public

programs interact: first, whether eligibility for such programs varies by immi-

gration status; and second, whether and how use of, or likely use of, public

programs affects a person’s potential immigration status. Historically, both have

NOTE: This work was written for the Authors’ Conference in Memory and Honor of Rebecca

M. Blank held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, February 22, 2024. The authors thank

the organizers, Leslie McGranahan and Diane Schanzenbach, as well as participants at the

conference for helpful feedback. Kristin Butcher and Luojia Hu gratefully acknowledge the

mentorship and guidance they received from Rebecca Blank and David Card that resulted in

Butcher and Hu (2000) in Card and Blank (2000). Disclaimer: The views expressed here do not

necessarily represent the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago or the Federal Reserve

System.

FIGURE 1

Percentage of U.S. Citizens with at Least One Noncitizen in Household by Year

SOURCE: Data from American Community Survey (ACS) 2001–2022.

NOTE: For the “Child” population, we focus on U.S.-born children.