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Cornell Expert: Little Harm, Little Benefit to Children After More Than a Decade of Welfare Reform
Landmark program must be reauthorized by Sept. 30, 2010
ITHACA, N.Y., June 14 /Standard Newswire/ -- Since the federal government enacted landmark welfare reform legislation in 1996, thousands of single mothers have found jobs and child poverty rates have dropped slightly – yet there also is evidence that the poorest families may have less income.
"At the time it was signed into law, there were some predictions of dire consequences; that the loss of the safety net would put many kids out on the streets or into orphanages. Clearly that hasn't happened," says Rachel Dunifon, professor of policy analysis and management in Cornell University's College of Human Ecology.
However, she notes, "some families are still falling through the cracks."
Dunifon's review of more than 100 studies on welfare reform was commissioned by the Pew Charitable Trusts' Economic Mobility Project. "Welfare Reform and Intergenerational Mobility" was released May 25, as Congress prepares to consider reauthorizing the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, a key provision of legislation that tied welfare to work requirements, placed time limits on public assistance and turned over benefits allocation to states.
There is still a lack of data on the law's impact, Dunifon says, but her review did include several observations:
• Welfare reform that increases employment and household income can help younger children in terms of test scores, health and behavior; but teenagers who need parental supervision may fare worse.
• Reforms have likely increased the number of children in high-quality, child-based child care.
• Employment is up and welfare use is down, but the overall impact of welfare reform on household income is unclear.
• There is little evidence that welfare reform has led to changes in maternal marital status and child living arrangements.
• There is little evidence on whether reform policies have affected parents' mental health or the way they interact with their children.
Dunifon calls for rigorous studies that focus on the types of jobs held by poor working mothers, and how they affect child care, parenting and mental health.
"The ideal study would be an experimental evaluation testing how various 'real world' approaches to welfare reform – that is, those found in states today – influence children and families," she says. "Such research would have the strong benefits of a randomized experiment, combined with relevance to today's policy world."
