Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) Analysis, 7 counties, 1994-1998 (ICPSR 38093)

Version Date: Jul 5, 2022

Cite this study |

Principal Investigator(s):
Lisa A. Gennetian, MDRC; MDRC

Series:

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38093.v1

Version V1

Slide tabs to view more

Summary

The Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) consisted of three key components:

  1. Financial incentives to work-parents could keep more of their benefits when they worked and child care payments were paid directly to providers.
  2. Participation requirements for long-term recipients--if not working full-time, long-term recipients had to participate in services designed to move them quickly into the workforce.
  3. Simplification of rules and procedures-- AFDC, Food Stamps, and Family General Assistance were combined into a single program with one set of rules and procedures and one monthly payment.

MFIP began operating in April 1994 in three urban counties of Anoka, Dakota, and Hennepin and the four rural counties of Mille Lacs, Morrison, Sherburne, and Todd. Between April 1994 and March 1996, over 14,000 families were assigned at random, using a lottery-type process, to either the MFIP or AFDC systems. This package contains data files and documentation for the evaluation of the MFIP program. The program was evaluated using a random assignment design, in which applicants for and recipients of welfare were assigned at random into either the MFIP program or a control group. The included files are those that were analyzed for the final reports on the MFIP evaluation, issued in September 2000.

These data are a Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped for release, but not checked or processed.

Citation

Gennetian, Lisa A., and MDRC. Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) Analysis, 7 counties, 1994-1998. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-07-05. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38093.v1

Export Citation:

  • RIS (generic format for RefWorks, EndNote, etc.)
  • EndNote

Funding

Minnesota. Department of Human Services, Ford Foundation, United States Department of Health and Human Services, United States Department of Agriculture, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Northwest Area Foundation (U.S.)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit

County

Restrictions

This data collection may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited. To protect respondent privacy, the data files in this collection are restricted from general dissemination. To obtain these restricted files researchers must agree to the terms and conditions of a Restricted Data Use Agreement.

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
Hide

Time Period(s)

1994-01-01 -- 1998-12-31
Hide

Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and analyze the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP).

Study Design

The Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) began operating in April 1994 in three urban counties of Anoka, Dakota, and Hennepin and the four rural counties of Mille Lacs, Morrison, Sherburne, and Todd. Between April 1994 and March 1996, over 14,000 families were assigned at random, using a lottery-type process. Single-parent families in urban counties were randomly assigned to one of three following research groups: MFIP, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), or MFIP incentives only. Those in the rural counties were assigned only to the MFIP or AFDC groups. Two-parent families were assigned to either the MFIP or Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) systems.

Sample

Between April 1994 and March 1996, more than 14,000 families in seven Minnesota counties were assigned, using a lottery-like process, to either the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) (the "MFIP group") or the traditional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program (the "AFDC group"). The total number of families randomly assigned was 14,639. However, several sample members were dropped from the file because they were missing data for several key variables, such as Social Security Numbers used to match to UI earnings records. The final total sample that includes administrative records data and baseline demographic and survey data was N=14,170. For details on sampling for the adult outcomes survey and child outcomes survey, please refer to the documentation.

Time Method

Longitudinal

Universe

Single-parent or two-parent families and their household children in the following counties in Minnesota: Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Sherburne, and Todd.

Unit(s) of Observation

Indvidiual

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables

Full sample, puf.sas7bdat: Includes the full range of administrative records data, merged with the baseline demographic and Private Opinion Survey (POS) data (N=14,170). The total number of families randomly assigned was 14,639. However, several sample members were dropped from the file because they were missing data for several key variables, such as Social Security Numbers used to match to UI earnings records. Because the file contains one record per family, records for two-parent families include data on both spouses' earnings and employment.

Adult outcomes survey sample, pufcr.sas7bdat: Survey adult outcomes merged with select records and baseline data. The sample consists of a subset of the full evaluation sample that entered the evaluation between April and October 1994 (N=3,720).

Child Outcomes Study sample, pufch.sas7bdat: Survey adult and child outcomes merged with select records and baseline data. The sample consists of those members of the targeted full survey sample who had at least one child aged 2 to 9 at random assignment (N=1,929).

Response Rates

81 percent (see documentation for details).

Hide

Original Release Date

2022-07-05

Hide

Notes