WELFARE REFORM Welfare Reform and the Impact on Children

The passage of the 1996 PRWORA (Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act) transformed the U.S. welfare system from a federal entitlement program that emphasized cash assistance to poor families, primarily, to a state block grant that stressed time limits and work. More specifically, the law mandated lifetime time limits of five years for receipt of cash assistance (TANF), required employment for most mothers on welfare, even those with very young children (as young as three months of age). It also required teen parents to live in an approved supervised setting, preferably at home with their parents, and to participate in school or training to receive benefits. It also brought increased attention to the critical role of child care in supporting parents’ employment and self-sufficiency as well as the healthy development and school readiness for children. The law’s explicit goals include: preventing non-marital births, encouraging marriage and strengthening two-parent families. 1