The School Attendance Demonstration Project (SADP) was designed to improve school attendance among teenagers receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits in San Diego County, California. An impact study was conducted from March 10, 1996 to March 10, 1998, to evaluate the effects of providing social services and imposing…

This paper examines conflicting evidence regarding the impacts of welfare reform on children's wellbeing. Research shows that poverty rates, teen crime and fertility, and child maltreatment are down. Lack of appropriate state-level data on indicators of child wellbeing precludes serious analysis of the role of welfare reform for most indicators.…

This paper presents data from a survey of all 50 states that examined specific programs and policies being pursued at the state level to discourage teenage and nonmarital childbearing. Overall, the teen childbearing rate has continued to fall, and in 1999 it was the lowest on record. Some research points to a relationship between welfare policies…

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 presents states with new opportunities and flexibility to design programs for teen parents. This report summarizes how welfare reform has changed the environment for teen parents dependent on welfare. The report presents research findings on the costs of supporting teen…

Many policy proposals related to welfare will have the effect, intended or unintended, of encouraging teens to marry. This paper discusses the implications of teen marriage. Marriage is one route to reducing out-of-wedlock births to teens who become pregnant, but there is reason to believe such marriages are often unstable. A review of the…

This study investigated the potential effects of welfare reform on children in late childhood through adolescence, examining how poverty status and family welfare receipt interacted with current poverty status and welfare receipt during adolescence to influence various outcomes. The study examined how 1998 outcomes varied for adolescents based on…

Books in the Opposing Viewpoints series challenge readers to question their own opinions and assumptions. By reading carefully balanced views, readers confront new ideas on the topic of interest. Although some experts believe that the problem of teenage pregnancy has been overstated, other recent studies have led many people to believe that…

This policy brief describes children from "Welfare, Children and Families: A Three-City Study," using data from the first wave of the study which involved a random-sample survey of about 2,400 low-income children and their caregivers (mainly mothers) in low-income neighborhoods. Researchers collected information from mothers on their…

This report discusses critical social issues linked to teen pregnancy, explaining that teen pregnancy prevention should be viewed as working to improve these social issues. After providing general background on teen pregnancy, the report offers five fact sheets: (1) "Teen Pregnancy, Welfare Dependency, and Poverty" (continuing to reduce…

This report represents a synthesis of research conducted on the consequences of adolescent childbearing for adolescent mothers, their children, the fathers of their children, and the United States. Each year, nearly one million teenagers in the United States become pregnant. About one-third of these 15- to 19-year-old females abort their…

The Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House Committee on Ways and Means asked the General Accounting Office for information on who is currently receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and whether the characteristics of this population have changed in recent years. This report presents information from 1976 to 1992 about women…

The first phase of a study of state welfare-to work programs in 1988 consisted of a survey mailed to the states. Results provide practical information on the operational experience of state welfare-to-work programs, and at the national level, enhance both policy development and implementation activities, especially in conjunction with the Job…

With the passage of the 1996 welfare reform law, numerous commentators expressed concern about the impact of welfare reform on young children of welfare recipients, while few expressed concern about adolescents. However, recent evidence suggests that adolescents are affected negatively when their parents participate in welfare-to-work programs.…

Reviews important facts and findings from the research on the causes and consequences of teenage childbearing. Describes those parents on welfare and their life circumstances that facilitate or impede their success as young parents and ways of mitigating the adverse consequences of early childbearing for the young mothers and their children. (AA)

Connecticut's Jobs First program was subjected to a rigorous, large-scale evaluation. During the evaluation, nearly 5,000 single-parent welfare applicants and recipients in 2 cities were randomly assigned to Jobs First or to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) group. Each group's progress was compared over a 4-year period. The…