Recent Findings Welfare Reform and Children: Potential Implications

policies and programs, even though children comprise a majority of public assistance recipients. In 1995, about twothirds of those receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children each month were children.1 Moreover, key provisions in the most recent welfare legislation, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), have implications for children. Based on research findings from welfare-to-work program evaluations and from basic research on child development, we conclude that welfare reform can affect children in diverse ways. These effects will vary depending on state and local policies, family characteristics and risk status, patterns of maternal employment, and children’s experiences in the home and in nonmaternal care settings.