Conditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) have two main objectives: reducing poverty and increasing the human capital of children. To reach these objectives, transfers are given to poor households conditioned on investments in their children's education, health, and nutrition. Targeting mechanisms used by CCTs have been generally successful in…

The working poor are employable people who have found low-paying jobs and barely scrape out a living. By removing many forms of federal aid, the Reagan administration has locked the working poor into poverty. In saving a few dollars today, we are penalizing the next generation. (CS)

This report contains eight papers which summarize a two-year research project that examined the income dynamics of poor families. The empirical work is based upon the National Longitudinal Surveys of the Michigan Survey Research Center, a special sample of 3,000 Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) families conducted by the authors, the…

There is a great deal of misunderstanding about welfare programs and clients. This booklet attempts to dispel popular misconceptions concerning the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare (DPW). Using graphs, it provides a demographic profile of welfare recipients. It also provides other statistics about welfare through Aid to Families with…

Uses federal survey data to examine U.S. population with inadequate income for less than one year. Reports long-term and persistent poor are more likely to be aged, Black, and disabled. Welfare programs may not target groups comprising the short-term poor, leading to inadequate services. (DHP)

Changes in the Federal food stamp program have resulted in a reduction in the number of eligible people receiving needed food assistance and a weakening of the "safety net" that protects the needy from poverty, unemployment, and high medical costs. Blacks and Hispanic Americans appear to have been disproportionately affected by these…

Focuses on three income support programs: unemployment insurance, public assistance, and food stamps, and examines the extent to which low income groups, particularly blacks, participated in these programs, the factors responsible for the nonparticipation of many poor, and the adequacy of support provided to participants in these programs.…

This study reviews the evidence on the impact that manpower training programs have had on the earnings of the poor, in order to assess the likely success that greatly expanded training programs would have in reducing the amount of public assistance payments and the size of welfare roles. Between 1963 and 1971, the Federal Government obligated 6.8…

Reviews "Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-1980" by Charles Murray. Murray believes federal social welfare programs sap the moral fiber of poor Americans by eliminating a negative incentive for them to work at low paying jobs. Criticizes Murray's position, citing the importance of positive as well as negative incentives for…

Debates the issue of voluntary artificial insemination among single women who depend on public assistance. Ooms argues that eligibility for welfare should be based on court defined criteria rather than on moral judgments, while Steinfels suggests that the welfare of the child is most important in any consideration. (Author/AOS)

The anti-poverty impact of government benefit programs has decreased since 1979 due to budget cuts during the Reagan Administration and the failure of states to keep benefits up with inflation. Since 1979, 30 percent of the increase in poverty has been among families with children, and half of the increase since 1981 is due to the declining…

Poverty has risen faster in recent years under measures of poverty that include the value of non-cash benefits. The Census Bureau recently issued nine measures of poverty which make the poverty population appear unrealistically small. In summary, these measures do the following: (l) count non-cash benefits because they include household purchasing…

To assist states in easing the burden of Medicaid application procedures and verification requirements for families, the Southern Institute on Children and Families conducted a regional meeting to discuss child health coverage verification issues in September, 1998. Participating in the dialogue were Medicaid and state child health insurance…

This manual delineates procedures for the mandatory verification of 3 percent of the applications for national school food programs. Two methods of selection are described: random and "error prone profiling." The latter involves selecting for verification those applicants whose recorded monthly income is closest to the eligibility cutoff…

The paper summarizes the results of an analysis of recently issued Census data. Examining the anti-poverty effectiveness of cash and non-cash benefit programs from 1979 to 1986, the analysis focuses on the impacts of those programs on families with children, the group whose poverty rate has risen most rapidly since 1979. The data reveal that…