An Analysis of the Administrative Expenses of 28 Public-Assistance Agencies During 1938–39

* Bureau of Research and Statistics, Div is ion of Public Assistance Research. S T A T E A N D L O C A L L E G I S L A T O R S have recently been displaying unusual interest i n the administrative costs of public-assistance and relief pro grams. The i r concern w i t h channeling the largest possible share of the relief dollar into the hands of the needy has led them to scrutinize closely ad ministrative costs and, i n m a n y instances, to l i m i t such costs by law to a fixed percentage of t o ta l assistance payments or to ta l costs. Admin i s trators of public-assistance agencies have been requested to supply comparisons of their own costs w i t h those of agencies in other States. Considering the lack of comparable data i n this area, it is not di f f icult to understand why most of the comparisons have been of questionable v a l i d i t y . To meet the need for comparable data, the Division of Public Assistance Research of the Social Security Board undertook to collect data on so-called adminis trat ive costs for the fiscal year 1938-39. The States cooporating i n this experimental project were requested to report their expenses i n accordance w i t h a un i f o rm expense classification, which was developed w i t h the advice of the J o i n t Committee on Relief Statistics of the American Public Welfare Association and American Statist ical Association. The results of this project are summarized here to determine how effective the report ing system has been i n producing reasonably comparable data. Progress toward this objective is measured by the extent to which the report ing system has been successful in el iminating or m i n i m i z i n g the influence of var ia ble factors which have v i t i a ted earlier comparisons.