Welfare Reforms and Child Well-Being in the US and UK

This paper examines the effects of recent welfare reforms in the US and UK on thewell-being of children in low-income families, looking specifically at the effects onpoverty, family expenditures, and child health and development. The paper finds somecommonalities but also some notable differences. Common to both countries is asizable reduction in child poverty, although the reduction in child poverty in the UShas been less, and some families appear to have been left behind. Expenditure dataalso point to divergence across the two countries. In the UK, low-income familiesaffected by the reforms are spending more money on items related to children and aremore likely to own a car and a phone, while in the US, families affected by welfarereforms are primarily spending more money on items related to employment but notitems for children. Finally, a common finding across countries is a relative dearth ofmore direct evidence on the well-being of children, and specifically how the reformshave affected child health and development. Identifying such effects remains animportant topic for further research.[...]