Although the 1996 welfare reform bill reduced welfare rolls, falling caseloads do not necessarily mean a better standard of living for families. This book examines the evidence and evaluates whether welfare reform has met one of its chief goals--improving the well-being of the nation's poor children. The chapters of the book are as follows: (1) "For Better and for Worse: Welfare Reform and the Well-Being of Children and Families" (Greg J. Duncan and P. Lindsay Chase-Landsdale); (2) "Liberal and Conservative Influences on the Welfare Reform Legislation of 1996" (Ron Haskins); (3) "Welfare Reform, Management Systems, and Policy Theories of Child Well-Being" (Cathy M. Johnson and Thomas L. Gais); (4) "How Do State Policymakers Think about Family Processes and Child Development in Low-Income Families?" (Kristin Anderson Moore); (5) "Program Redesign by States in the Wake of Welfare Reform: Making Sense of the Effects of Devolution" (Alan Weil); (6) "Sanctions and Exits: What States Know about Families That Leave Welfare because of Sanctions and Time Limits" (Jack Tweedie); (7) "How Different Are Welfare and Working Families? And Do These Differences Matter for Children's Achievement?" (Greg J. Duncan, Rachel E. Dunifon, Morgan B. Ward Doran, and W. Jean Yeung); (8) "My Children Come First: Welfare-Reliant Women's Post-TANF Views of Work-Family Trade-Offs and Marriage" (Ellen K. Scott, Kathryn Edin, Andrew S. London, and Joan Maya Mazelis); (9) "Does Maternal Employment Mandated by Welfare Reform Affect Children's Behavior?" (Ariel Kalil, Rachel E. Dunifon, and Sandra K. Danziger); (10) "Lessons from New Hope: The Impact on Children's Well-Being of a Work-Based Antipoverty Program for Parents" (Rashmita S. Mistry, Danielle A. Crosby, Aletha C. Huston, David M. Casey, and Marika N. Ripke); (11) "How Families View and Use Lump-Sum Payments from the Earned Income Tax Credit" (Jennifer L. Romich and Thomas S. Weisner); (12) "Welfare Waivers and Nonmarital Childbearing" (Ann E. Horvath-Rose and H. Elizabeth Peters); (13) "Reducing Child Poverty by Improving the Work-Based Safety Net" (Wendell Primus and Kristina Daugirdas); (14) "Effects of Welfare Reform at Four Years" (Ron Haskins); (15) "Reforming the Social Family Contract: Public Support for Child Rearing in the United States" (Paula England and Nancy Folbre); and (16) "Lessons Learned" (P. Lindsay Chase-Landsdale and Greg J. Duncan). (Each chapter contains references.) (HTH)