Consequences of welfare reform

Beginning in the 1960s, concern about the unintended consequences of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program led to a sequence of reform efforts. The goals of these reforms were to promote work and reduce dependence while still alleviating need. These efforts culminated with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, which replaced the AFDC program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. In addition to promoting work and reducing dependence, PRWORA also aimed to promote marriage and to reduce unwed childbearing. The problem is that not all of these goals can be achieved simultaneously. As lawmakers seek to refine the new welfare system, it is important that they understand the trade-offs that different policies entail. The authors synthesize the evidence on how recent welfare reform policies affect PRWORA goals, as measured by a series of outcomes. The authors focus on particular sets of outcomes, such as welfare use, employment and earnings, and income and poverty. They evaluate the trade-offs among the different reform goals that arise from different policies and assess the strengths and limitations of the existing research base.