Scholars within different disciplines employ a wide range of empirical approaches to understanding how, why and with what consequences government is organized. We first review recent statistical modeling efforts in the areas of education, job-training, welfare reform and drug abuse treatment and...

The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), enacted in 1982 as a major initiative of the Reagan Administration, created what became a $5 billion federally-funded employment and training program for disadvantaged workers. The JTPA directs the states to provide services to "those who can benefit...

Children's interests were frequently invoked during the congressional debate of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (hereafter referred to as the Personal Responsibility Act). Those who supported the act, those who wanted to amend it, and those who opposed it...

This research investigates the effects of poverty in early adulthood on future earnings. While social scientists are beginning to amass a considerable literature on the effects of poverty on outcomes for children, few have investigated the damage that impoverishment may do in early adulthood...

In this paper we sort through conflicting theory and evidence regarding the impacts of welfare reform on children’s well-being and development. <p>Our conclusions regarding likely child impacts depend crucially on the ages of the children studied. In the case of elementary-school children, the...</p>

A downturn in the economy is inevitable — at some point, policy makers at the federal, state and local level will be faced with decisions about how to sustain a work-based assistance system when jobs are less readily available. With a fixed level of funding states and localities will be faced...

In recent years, we have dramatically changed the character of programs that provide income and in-kind benefits to single mothers. These changes have had large effects on rates of employment and welfare receipt. Despite these changes, there has been little systematic evaluation of the...