Since the 1996 passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (welfare reform), impoverished children in single-parent families receive less aid than under the previous system, and the most disadvantaged of these children have slipped deeper into poverty. This research brief summarizes a study that explored the economic well-being…

Rural poverty among female-headed families with children has declined since 1996 welfare reforms. Moreover, the income of female-headed families has increased, while income from earnings has more than offset declines in public assistance income. Rural single mothers nevertheless continue to experience higher poverty rates than their urban…

This paper documents changing rates of poverty, sources of income, and employment among rural female-headed families with children, focusing on the effects of welfare reform. Data from the Current Population Survey show that from 1989 through 1999, especially since passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act…

This document is comprised of the three 2002 issues of a newsletter devoted to identifying and promoting strategies to reduce the poverty rate of young children and to improve the life chances of children still living in poverty. The Winter issue includes the following articles: (1) "NCCP [National Center for Children in Poverty] Responds to…

This study investigated the potential effects of welfare reform on children in late childhood through adolescence, examining how poverty status and family welfare receipt interacted with current poverty status and welfare receipt during adolescence to influence various outcomes. The study examined how 1998 outcomes varied for adolescents based on…

This study used data from the first and last waves of the 1996 U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation to compare the characteristics and wellbeing of low-income, single parent families before and after passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), noting the characteristics and…

The National Center for Children in Poverty(NCCP)has developed a series of issue briefs on the effects of welfare reform on children living in poverty. This issue brief is based in part on "Map and Track: State Initiatives to Promote Responsible Fatherhood," a report supported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation and prepared by NCCP in…

This report examines how state welfare-to-work programs have affected young children since the 1996 welfare reform act, which moved millions of women into low-wage jobs. Researchers followed a sample of 948 mothers and young children for 2-4 years after the women entered new welfare programs in California, Connecticut, and Florida. After…

The National Center for Children in Poverty is developing a series of issue briefs on children and welfare reform to help policymakers, community leaders, and advocates use the opportunities afforded by welfare changes in ways that are most likely to benefit both children and adults. This second issue brief focuses on the impact of federal and…

This report presents key findings from a review of data focusing on child care arrangements among people who have left welfare. Most states have conducted studies of former welfare recipients using administrative data, surveys of welfare leavers, or a combination of the two. Data from these surveys indicate that most people who have left welfare…

This report examines whether people who left welfare between 1997 and 1999 were more disadvantaged or less job-ready than were an early group who left welfare between 1995 and 1997. The study compared barriers to work and economic outcomes using data from the National Survey of America's Families. Overall, results found little evidence of poorer…

This digest, which is based on findings from a large variety of studies, reviews the known effects of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 on children to date and discusses the Act's possible future effects. Federal statistics show a positive trend in poverty reduction, though other sources are not optimistic…

This report presents data from research on New York state and city compliance with changes in federal welfare laws. It outlines how children and families are faring after 5 years of welfare reform (e.g., caseloads have dropped, but child poverty persists, families leave welfare for low paying jobs and unstable work, and family homelessness is…

Some welfare experts and policymakers advocate providing education and training to prepare welfare recipients for jobs that will eventually help them leave poverty (the "work first" approach), whereas others advocate placing welfare recipients in jobs immediately whenever possible. Although the Personal Responsibility and Work…

The erosion of marriage has caused enormous difficulties for children, parents, and society. Compared to children born within marriage, those born outside of marriage are overwhelmingly more likely to live in poverty, depend on welfare, and have behavior problems. They also may suffer depression and physical abuse, fail in school, abuse drugs, and…