The Effect of Welfare on Child Outcomes: What We Know and What We Need to Know

This survey discusses 8 large federal welfare programs that affect children. The available evidence is incomplete but suggests a consistent story: Programs that target services directly to children have the largest measured effects, while it is more difficult to detect possibly positive effects of unrestricted cash transfers. There are also striking and largely unexplained differences between demographic groups in the effects of some programs. The survey concludes with five questions for future research: 1) Do welfare programs have long-term effects on children?; 2) Why do programs appear to have differential effects on different demographic groups?; 3) How do programs interact; 4) How exactly do successful programs work? and 5) Are programs cost effective? These questions indicate that though we know much more than we did even 5 years ago about the effects of welfare on children, there is still much work to be done if we are to make informed decisions about public policy.