Economic Conditions and Welfare Reform

The relationship between welfare caseloads and the economy is one of the key issues addressed in this timely book. Using the most current data available, a group of the nation's leading researchers examines the effects of welfare reform prior to and after enactment of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). What they find is a mixed picture.

The book is divided into three sections. The first, comprising four papers, offers analyses of trends in welfare caseloads and whether these trends are the result of welfare reform or the macroeconomy. The second section focuses on the labor market, specifically recipients' work and earnings outcomes, and employers' willingness to hire welfare recipients. The three papers in the final section focus on what states are doing now and what they are likely to do in the event of a recession.