What Works in Welfare Reform: Evidence and Lessons to Guide TANF Reauthorization

This guide reviews how States have shaped their welfare reform strategies since 1996, in light of the flexibility afforded them by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. It describes how most States used their new responsibilities and flexibility to implement policies concerning: requiring work, making work pay, and time-limiting welfare benefits. It also synthesizes findings from studies of welfare reform's effects on poor families and government budgets.