"Examines a broad range of state and federal programs providing cash or in-kind benefits to low-wage workers, low-income families, and families making the transition from welfare to work to assess the ability of the work support system to lead to self-sufficiency"--Provided by publisher

Efforts to promote work have been the centerpiece of welfare reform over the past ten years. In signing the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, President Bill Clinton pledged that the sweeping overhaul would "end welfare as we know it" by promoting work,...

The principal means by which individuals and families achieve economic self-sufficiency is through labor market earnings. As a consequence, it is natural for policy makers to look to interventions that increase the ability of individuals and families to achieve an adequate standard of living...