Qualitative research has documented strategic behavior in response to child support policy. Parents of children on welfare have an incentive to avoid formal child support, since most states limit the amount of formal child support that women on welfare can receive (the "disregard") and have relatively high child support orders for low-income…

Time limits reduce caseloads directly by cutting off benefits after a time-limited usage, but may also provide families with an incentive to reduce welfare use in order to conserve their benefits. Both effects depend on the stock of remaining months of eligibility. This is the first empirical study to incorporate information on this crucial…