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Exploiting changes in welfare policy across states and over time and comparing relevant population subgroups within an econometric difference-in-differences framework, we estimate the effects of welfare reform on adult women's illicit drug use from 1992 to 2002, the period during which welfare reform unfolded in the United States. The analyses are based on all available and appropriate national data sets, each offering unique strengths and measuring a different drug-related outcome. We investigate self-reported illicit drug use (from the National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse and National Surveys on Drug Use and Health), drug-related prison admissions (from the National Corrections Reporting Program), drug-related arrests (from Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports), and drug-related emergency department episodes (from the Drug Abuse Warning Network). We find robust evidence that welfare reform led to a 10%-21% decline in illicit drug use among women at risk of relying on welfare, as well as associated declines in drug-related arrests (6%-7%), drug-related hospital emergency department episodes (7%-11%), and possibly drug-related prison admissions (11%-19%). The findings indicate that an appropriately designed welfare system with sufficient job opportunities for those who are able to work can result in both increases in employment and decreases in drug use. (JEL I38, K42, J2), I. INTRODUCTION The landmark Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, often referred to as welfare reform, ended entitlement to welfare benefits under Aid to Families with [...]

The authors examined the effects of welfare programs that increased maternal employment and family income on the development of very young children using data from 5 random-assignment experiments. The children were 6 months to 3 years old when their mothers entered the programs; cognitive and behavioral outcomes were measured 2-5 years later. While there were no overall program impacts, positive or negative, on the development of children in this age group, there was a pair of domain- and age-specific effects: The programs decreased positive social behavior among l-year-olds and increased school achievement among 2-year-olds. After exploring several explanations for these results, the authors suggest that the contextual changes engendered by the programs, including children's exposure to center-based child care, interacted differentially with specific developmental transitions. Keywords: welfare reform, infants and toddlers, stage-environment fit, maternal employment

The average annual poverty rates fell over the 1990s especially among female-headed families but the incidence of poverty spells actually increased. Women had higher but more variable incomes by the early 2000s and it is conjectured that women's economic fortunes have been tied to the labor market which exposes them to spells of poverty.

In this essay Peter H. Rossi describes the four major research projects assessing welfare reform, programs that account for more than half the spending in the area: the Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD), the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF), the Project on Devolution and Urban Change (UC), and the Child Impact Waiver experiments being funded by the federal government. He concludes that these studies cannot provide a reliable assessment of welfare reform's impact on children and families because it is too late to construct a valid control or comparison group with which to measure the 'counterfactual,' or what would have happened in the absence of welfare reform.

Effects of pre and post 1998 state welfare reform policies on children's well-being measures, using econometric methods, are analyzed.

Whereas many studies of welfare reform have focused on effects on children and families, little research has examined the implications of welfare reform for the elderly. This case study incorporates interviews with service providers for the aging, members of advocacy organizations, and two focus groups of older consumers conducted in the multi-ethnic urban community of San Francisco. Study findings suggest that welfare reform has had both direct and indirect effects on the elderly and their services in the study community. Direct effects derive primarily from changes in the welfare reform legislation that had the effect of undermining both immigrants' eligibility for and claiming of public assistance benefits. Indirect effects on older persons include increased child-care demands upon grandparents. The case study data bear on a significant policy change within the broader trend of devolution at a historical point when anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States was running high. KEYWORDS. Welfare reform, elderly, aging services, elderly immigrants, grandparent caregivers, devolution

An examination on a premise, by Hubbard et al. (1995) and by prominent policy makers like Secretary Kemp, that welfare asset confines household saving, is presented. The study has shown positive results.

An analysis on the impact of welfare reform on the living arrangements of children is presented. Based on March current population survey (CPS) data, which varies by the race and ethnicity of the children, the results show that children are less probable to live with unmarried parents, more probable to live with married parents, and more probable to live with neither parent.

This study examined the age-specific pattern of effects of welfare policies on child achievement. Drawing from 7 random-assignment welfare and antipoverty evaluations that provided more than 30,000 observations of children's achievement, this study found that times of developmental transition are the only periods sensitive to the changes in families brought about by these policies. More specifically, small positive effects of welfare and antipoverty policies were found for children making the transition into middle childhood, and small negative effects of these same policies were found for children making the transition out of middle childhood and into early adolescence. Effects were robust across various program groupings and could not be attributed to family characteristics that differ for children of different ages. This research informs the understanding of how changes in employment and income for low-income parents affect development across childhood. Keywords: poverty, school achievement, policy

Welfare-to-work programmes promoting employment of people with a disability or chronic illness are an expanding aspect of welfare reform in the UK. What evidence is there of impact on employment outcomes? This paper presents a systematic review of the evidence on UK policy initiatives. Both quantitative and qualitative studies were identified: 5399 abstracts were located, from which 16 studies were critically appraised. Overall, each of the five main welfare-to-work strategies operating in the 1990s helped people with disabilities into work, who were previously on benefits. The proportion of participants gaining employment after involvement ranged from 11% to 50%, dependent on characteristics of participants, such as 'job-readiness', as well as wider labour market context. As most studies were uncontrolled, it was difficult to determine if the improved employment chances were due to the effectiveness of the welfare-to-work interventions themselves or to external factors. Wider impact, such as uptake of schemes as a proportion of the total target population, was weak. The qualitative components identified barriers and facilitators concerned with effective implementation, to aid design of future initiatives. Keywords: Systematic review; Disability; Chronic illness; Employment; Welfare reform; UK

I argue here that, while welfare reform policy and the disability rights movement appear to share a common agenda based on the belief that disability is a social creation which can be remedied by way of increased access to employment and social resources, their world views and objectives could not be more at odds. By demonstrating how welfare reform policy makers have opportunistically appropriated the language which frames the disability rights movement and, in the style of Orwell's Newspeak, used it to conceal an agenda which actually aims for the reverse of what it promises, I seek to show that what is being promoted as a means for increased access to a better life for disabled people could be more aptly described as a gateway to poverty., Introduction Australian welfare reform policy, as it is currently being promoted by the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) and outlined in the McClure Reports (FaCS 2000a, b) […]

The effect of reforms of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) on caseloads of another program that is Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is examined. The results reveal that a decrease in caseloads in one program cannot be interpreted as an equal-sized decrease in the number of families receiving public assistance.

People who leave welfare commonly return, and this phenomenon has become more pressing in the time-limited TANF program. Fostering stable TANF exits may be particularly difficult in poor inner-city areas because of job shortages and neighborhood deterioration. Perspectives of TANF leavers from five focus groups in Chicago about problems leading to welfare returns are presented. Participants indicated that low wages and unstable jobs were most often responsible for TANF returns. Obtaining health care and child care and inconsistent performance of TANF caseworkers were stressed as contributing factors. Participants also focused on strengths helpful in sustaining exits from TANF, particularly psychological benefits associated with working and informal supports received from family members and friends. The implications of recipient-identified problems and strengths are discussed, including balancing 'work first' employment policies with substantive educational and job development policies. Strategies for improving the performance of TANF case planning are discussed. Key words: poverty; TANF; welfare dependency; welfare reform, As state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs have implemented five-year time limits and other restrictions on welfare use, the importance of fostering sustainable welfare exits has grown. This [...]

Despite the increase in scholarly attention to citizenship, few studies have examined how immigrants acquire formal citizenship through naturalization. We employ a qualitative, longitudinal case-study approach to examine whether immigrants naturalize in the U.S. or not, and how they understand naturalization and citizenship in the post-1996 Welfare Reform period. We found that for many immigrants, U.S. citizenship does not necessarily signify permanent settlement or incorporation in the U.S. Indeed, U.S. citizenship allowed older immigrants to continue a pattern of transnational residence, challenging the association between citizenship and permanent incorporation in a single locale and citizenship and integration. Our findings challenge both the national and post-national perspectives and argues for a transnational view of citizenship. Keywords: Citizenship; naturalization; welfare reform; transnationalism; New York City; Dominicans.

The characteristics of former AFDC recipients who do well economically after leaving the welfare system are discussed. Factors with the greatest effect were area employment conditions and the ability to quickly secure employment.

Three professionals in public housing policy and welfare reform discuss its interrelatedness. In addition they address the need for changes by housing authorities to better correlate with changes brought about by welfare reform.

In 1996, Congress passed and the President signed the Personal Responsibility, and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), or what has become known as welfare reform. To many, welfare reform has [...]

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of welfare reform on the employment, earnings, income, and poverty trends among poor, single-mother families. Findings indicate that the employment and earnings gains of families in Wisconsin exceed those of other families nationwide. Information about Wisconsin's antipoverty policy is also presented.

Research on Korea's welfare reform since 1990s, which is not explained relating to growing market uncertainty is presented.

The potential impact of welfare reform on government program participation among immigrants, explicitly taking into account changing economic conditions is examined. The study concluded that much, but not all, of the relative decline in program use among immigrants can be explained by changing macroeconomic conditions.

The reports regarding the research on employment, domestic violence and welfare reform are reviewed. Findings suggest that inclusion of generous work supports in welfare legislation may help in the reduction of poverty and domestic violence.

The consequences of state welfare policies and practices on the living arrangements of low-income families with children are investigated. The decline in single parenting and increase in dual parenting are correlated with more effective collection of child support and family cap policies.

The consequences of studies on the housing outcomes of welfare recipients are discussed with a view to determine the possible control of welfare reform on housing instability, which in turn influences school instability. Other such studies suggest that welfare reform has increased the rates of family mobility, evictions and the likelihood of sharing housing.

A student describes the devastating effect of the Welfare Reform act of 1996 on the Hmong communities across the US. This law put an end to the welfare system provided by the U.S. government to the Hmong people making their lives difficult in the capitalistic world.