No abstract

The new welfare system mandates participation in work activity. We review the evolution of the 1996 legislation and how states implement welfare reform. We examine evidence on recipients' employment, well-being, and future earnings potential to assess the role of welfare in women's work. Policies rewarding work and penalizing nonwork, such as sanctions, time limits, diversion, and earnings "disregards," vary across states. While caseloads fell and employment rose, most women who left welfare work in low-wage jobs without benefits. Large minorities report material hardships and face barriers to work including depression, low skills, or no transportation. And disposable income decreased among the poorest female-headed families. Among the important challenges for future research is to differentiate between the effects of welfare reform, the economy, and other policies on women's work, and to assess how variations in state welfare programs affect caseloads and employment outcomes of recipients.

Relatively little is known about families who have been sanctioned since the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. We use panel data from the Women's Employment Survey to examine the predictors of sanctioning and consequences for material hardship among a sample of welfare recipients under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Approximately 12 percent reported being sanctioned by fall 1998. Statistically significant predictors include being African American and lacking a high school education. Controlling for a wide range of personal and demographic characteristics, we find that sanctions predict utility shutoffs, engaging in hardship-mediating activities, and subjective perceptions of economic hardship.

S a n d r a K . D a n z i g e r a n d K r i s t i n S .