The author estimates the effect of the Family Independence Program PIP) on the economic self-sufficiency of welfare recipients in Washington state. He finds that, as designed, enrollment in employment and training activities increased under FIP. FIP had no impact, however, on employment rates and earnings, and it actually led to increases in welfare participation and welfare benefits. According...

The large discrepancy between epidemiological evidence and welfare administrative data regarding domestic violence prevalence among welfare recipients is an issue of major concern for social policy. This study sought to determine whether or not the discrepancy is due to under-reporting by all women or by certain types of women. Using survey and administrative data on a sample of June 2002 welfa...

As states reform their welfare systems to emphasize work and self-sufficiency, they can draw on significant past experience with efforts to promote employment. Work and training programs for welfare recipients and other disadvantaged individuals have been operating in every state for nearly 30 years. This article summarizes findings from key evaluations of strategies to increase the employment ...

Recent scholarship and public discourse highlight an apparent waning of civic engagement in the United States. Although the welfare state is generally thought to support democracy by reducing economic inequality, it may paradoxically contribute to political disempowerment of some groups. We examine the effects of state interventions on civic participation among young adults, hypothesizing that ...

Current work suggests that individualistic values are more likely to be invoked in judgments about welfare recipients when the latter are black. Nevertheless, this “racialization” hypothesis has yet to be directly tested by looking at whether generalized individualism is more strongly related to hostility toward welfare recipients among whites when the recipients are black. In this paper, I con...

In Germany, imposition of benefit cuts for non-compliant welfare recipients depends on the policy of the local welfare agencies resulting in considerable regional variation, expressed in milder and stricter sanction regimes. Findings from international studies show, that benefit sanctions can substantially increase individual employment uptake. This raises the question, whether a stricter use o...

Changing patterns of maternal employment, coupled with stronger work requirements for welfare recipients, are increasing the demand for child care. For many families, the cost of child care creates a financial burden; for mothers with low incomes and those who are former welfare recipients, these costs may be an insurmountable barrier to employment or economic self-sufficiency. Despite increase...

Studies presented in this paper were supported by funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (grant 5–RO1–DA12256), the Administration for Children and Families, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The 1996 welfare reform law replaced the existing entitlement to cash welfare with a transitional program of temporary aid that has employment as its primary goal. Among the key provisions...