Abstract
During the late twentieth century, the US social safety net was transformed to incentivize work by providing generous wage subsidies for low-income workers and reducing federal assistance to able-bodied unemployed adults. Following the transformation and during the economic boom of the 1990s, welfare rolls and annual poverty rates plummeted, especially for children. Despite the economic boom, there were still many persistently poor children living with parents who did not work, and little is known about how the reforms impacted these children's finances. In this paper we compare rates of persistent child poverty before and after the welfare reforms and examine how federal assistance received by persistently poor children changed as a result of the reforms. We find that federal assistance to persistently poor children declined following the reforms, but with divergent results depending on parental employment. While persistently poor children with employed parents benefited from increased income via the Earned Income Tax Credit, those with chronically unemployed parents did not and also experienced substantial reductions in cash welfare and food stamps. These findings demonstrate how persistently poor children fared financially in the years following the reforms and suggest possible implications for the current period of high unemployment.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 71-89 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Journal of Children and Poverty |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 1 2013 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- child poverty
- federal assistance programs
- persistent poverty
- welfare reform
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Demography
- Education
- Sociology and Political Science
- Urban Studies
Cite this
The impacts of welfare reform on federal assistance to persistently poor children. / Grieger, Lloyd D.; Wyse, Jessica.
In: Journal of Children and Poverty, Vol. 19, No. 2, 01.09.2013, p. 71-89.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The impacts of welfare reform on federal assistance to persistently poor children
AU - Grieger, Lloyd D.
AU - Wyse, Jessica
PY - 2013/9/1
Y1 - 2013/9/1
N2 - During the late twentieth century, the US social safety net was transformed to incentivize work by providing generous wage subsidies for low-income workers and reducing federal assistance to able-bodied unemployed adults. Following the transformation and during the economic boom of the 1990s, welfare rolls and annual poverty rates plummeted, especially for children. Despite the economic boom, there were still many persistently poor children living with parents who did not work, and little is known about how the reforms impacted these children's finances. In this paper we compare rates of persistent child poverty before and after the welfare reforms and examine how federal assistance received by persistently poor children changed as a result of the reforms. We find that federal assistance to persistently poor children declined following the reforms, but with divergent results depending on parental employment. While persistently poor children with employed parents benefited from increased income via the Earned Income Tax Credit, those with chronically unemployed parents did not and also experienced substantial reductions in cash welfare and food stamps. These findings demonstrate how persistently poor children fared financially in the years following the reforms and suggest possible implications for the current period of high unemployment.
AB - During the late twentieth century, the US social safety net was transformed to incentivize work by providing generous wage subsidies for low-income workers and reducing federal assistance to able-bodied unemployed adults. Following the transformation and during the economic boom of the 1990s, welfare rolls and annual poverty rates plummeted, especially for children. Despite the economic boom, there were still many persistently poor children living with parents who did not work, and little is known about how the reforms impacted these children's finances. In this paper we compare rates of persistent child poverty before and after the welfare reforms and examine how federal assistance received by persistently poor children changed as a result of the reforms. We find that federal assistance to persistently poor children declined following the reforms, but with divergent results depending on parental employment. While persistently poor children with employed parents benefited from increased income via the Earned Income Tax Credit, those with chronically unemployed parents did not and also experienced substantial reductions in cash welfare and food stamps. These findings demonstrate how persistently poor children fared financially in the years following the reforms and suggest possible implications for the current period of high unemployment.
KW - child poverty
KW - federal assistance programs
KW - persistent poverty
KW - welfare reform
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84887096246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84887096246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10796126.2013.843509
DO - 10.1080/10796126.2013.843509
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84887096246
VL - 19
SP - 71
EP - 89
JO - Journal of Children and Poverty
JF - Journal of Children and Poverty
SN - 1079-6126
IS - 2
ER -