"Missing" domestic violence victims in welfare caseloads: the discrepancy between administrative and survey disclosure rates.

The large discrepancy between epidemiological evidence and welfare administrative data regarding domestic violence prevalence among welfare recipients is an issue of major concern for social policy. This study sought to determine whether or not the discrepancy is due to under-reporting by all women or by certain types of women. Using survey and administrative data on a sample of June 2002 welfare recipients, characteristics of women whose abuse was known to their welfare caseworkers are compared to those of individuals who disclosed to survey researchers but not to welfare personnel. Statistically significant differences suggest that some subgroups, including African Americans and women with less education, rather than all women, may be less likely to disclose abuse to welfare caseworkers.