Associated Initiative
Initiatives
Just What the Nation Needed: The Welfare Reform Law of 1996
Tuesday, January 27th, 2004
Ron Haskins
4:00 pm
Third Floor, Levis Faculty Center 919 West Illinois St. Urbana
Event Description
In 1996, Congress enacted sweeping changes in welfare policy. Among other reforms, the cash welfare program that guaranteed benefits to qualified families was replaced by a program that required work and imposed a five-year time limit on receiving benefits.
Haskins will review the effect of the reforms on work, child care, family income, and poverty. The major conclusion is that welfare reform has achieved the goal of reducing welfare dependency and improving family financial well-being.
Ron Haskins
Senior Fellow, Economics Studies Program, The Brookings Institution
