Welfare Participation and Self-Esteem in Later Life

The purpose of this panel study is to see whether enrolling in a public assistance program is related to changes in self-esteem in later life. A theoretical framework is developed that specifies that older men will be more likely to experience a decline in self-esteem following enrollment in a welfare program. Data from a nationwide longitudinal survey reveal that while receiving welfare benefits is unrelated to self-esteem for all elders taken together, older men experience a substantial decline in their sense of self-worth. In contrast, significant effects fail to emerge among elderly women.