During the 1990s, US income transfer and tax policies shifted towards trying to encourage work among low-income families. Optimal tax theory, however, suggests that work subsidies are usually an inefficient way to raise the incomes of poor families unless the work effort of recipients has...

Between 1979 and 1989, men's average earnings declined and the percentage of men with low earnings increased. Much of the decline in mean earnings and the increased incidence of low earnings can be accounted for by changes in the returns to education, experience, and industry of...

Acs and Loprest pull together information from a host of leaver studies to provide a bottom line assessment of what was learned. They compare welfare leaver outcomes across geographic areas and the nation as a whole. This effort allows them to paint a comprehensive picture of the employment,...

Using data from the 1997 and 1999 National Surveys of America's Families, the authors examine the consequences of state welfare policies and practices on the living arrangements of low-income families with children. Results from a multivariate difference-in-difference-in-differences model...

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 replaces AFDC, the largest means-tested cash assistance program for low-income families, with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. Unlike AFDC, assistance under TANF is limited to five...

Conventional wisdom holds that women on welfare will be better off in the long run if they take a job, even if it means initially having less money to spend on their and their children's needs. Underlying this thinking is the belief that women who take low-paying jobs will eventually move up to...

This article examines how welfare entry rates changed during the 1990s, and also assesses whether changes in entry rates are accompanied by improvements in the circumstances of families that choose not to receive welfare. Copyright (c) 2005 by the Southwestern Social Science Association.