Cites data from 214 welfare families to support the argument that tougher child-support enforcement can reduce welfare dependency. Suggests that the best way to mend the child-support system for welfare-reliant children is to create a system that takes into account the real-life situations of mothers and fathers, as well as norms regarding…

In 1997, the Board on Children, Youth, and Families launched the Frontiers of Research on Children, Youth, and Families Initiative to highlight recent policy-relevant research on children, youth, and families conducted by young and mid-career researchers. The initiative sought to encourage more sustained interactions between these researchers and…

This study describes how poor people fared in the state tax and spending decisions made in 1991, a year marked by the most serious fiscal crisis for the states since the recessions of the early 1980s. These decisions primarily affected fiscal year 1992 state budgets, which typically began in July 1991. The report focuses on income support, medical…

The bad economy, the eligibility controls of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, and state controlled Aid to Families with Dependent Children payment standards had different aggregate effects for different Medicaid eligibility groups between 1979 and 1983. Increases in the number of children and young women covered by Medicaid did not keep pace…

An evaluation of Jobs First (JF) compared the experiences of JF participants who were subject to welfare reform policies with those of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) participants who were subject to prior welfare rules. It collected information for four years about JF's impacts on participants' children and analyzed its financial…

Rising maternal employment, welfare reform, and increased preschool enrollment contribute to accelerating family demand for child care in California, and federal and state governments have responded by doubling support for child care and preschool programs between 1996 and 1999. However, there is little information available on how child care…

This report presents findings about emerging approaches to enhance the well-being of young children and families in the context of welfare reform. Information on programs and initiatives was obtained from nomination forms sent to over 300 key informants, including child care officials, Head Start collaboration directors, governors' early childhood…

Examines the consequences for children of life in families that receive at least part of their income from welfare. Suggests these children appear to complete less schooling, even after adjustment for other differences between recipient and nonrecipient families. Low family income and maternal employment are also found to reduce completed…

This Kids Count report examines statewide trends from 1990 to 1994 in the well-being of Massachusetts' children. The statistical portrait is based on indicators of well-being in five areas: (1) economic well-being of children and their families, including child poverty rate, family income, job loss, earnings of male high school dropouts and…

This study looked at New Chance, a voluntary randomized trial of an intensive program for teenage mothers and their children that operated nationally between 1989 and 1992. The study examined the effects of maternal psychosocial well being, intensity of work and educational pursuits, home environment, and use of childcare on combined experimental…

This research brief, one of a series being prepared to help inform the public debate surrounding the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant, uses data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families to examine the outcomes for children of welfare leavers and current welfare recipients; outcomes examined…

Noting that the southern region of the United States is challenged by some of the most difficult and entrenched economic, health, and social problems that place children at risk, this chartbook presents information on indicators of the current status of children and families in the South and contrasts conditions in the South with those in other…

This sixth annual report provides welfare dependence indicators through 2000, reflecting changes since enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in 1996 and highlighting benefits under Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), now Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); the Food Stamp program; and Supplement…

Notes that many from across the ideological spectrum suggest that welfare reform address policies that promote marriage and two-parent families. Discusses marriage, family structure and economic well-being, the benefits of marriage for adults and children, and low-income unwed mothers and marriage. Suggests that marriage and two-parent families…

Increasingly, less educated Americans are struggling with self-sufficiency. Low-end jobs are diminishing, and adults who left high school with education adequate to support themselves now find their marketable skills limited. Recent welfare reforms restrict assistance, leaving struggling workers with dwindling aid. Changing family structures…