Elders and children: patterns of public policy in the fifty states

Relatively little is known about the precise nature of relationships between state policies toward the elderly, on the one hand, and children, on the other. Correlational and regression analysis are used in the present research to examine patterns of association between selected state policy outputs for elders and children. The degree to which they reflect general state orientations toward human services rather than more particularistic orientations toward specific groups is also examined. A model of partial interdependence between policy outputs is supported by the data. About one-half of the variation in aging outputs can be explained by variations in children's policy. A closer examination of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) grants suggests that policy relationships differ within subsets of states as output levels increase. These findings may have important implications for the range of influence available to aging activists.