Welfare Reform What Have We Learned in Fifteen Years?

From the Urban Institute, this issue brief is part of the Perspectives on Low-Income Working Families series. Author Sheila R. Zedlewski discusses lessons learned since the welfare reform of 1996, which changed welfare from an entitlement program to a time-limited, employment program. Drawing from a series of research briefs, this article is a synthesis of research on TANF that provides a background on the TANF program as well as recommendations for strengthening the TANF program.