Welfare Reform, Poverty, and Families with Young Children

The authors approach the study of welfare reform from a developmental-contextual (Lerner & Fisher, 1994), life span (Elder, 1997), and ecological (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1997) theoretical perspective that has applicability across a broad range of scientific and policy issues in human development. This overall theoretical orientation is the concept of life span development as it applies to individual growth and change. By bringing in ecological concepts, the authors helps focus on the relevance of the contexts of development that include individuals, groups, physical and constructed environments, and institutions. The authors discuss that the developmental-contextualism aspect emphasizes the fact that neither individual (or family) behavior nor the ecology of development is static. That is, both families and environments continuously change and there is reciprocity in influence. In their research, the authors have two major emphases. The first is to help provide a focus on young children and their families, specifically the PRWORA and TANF programs and the potentially alarming implications for the well being of infants, toddlers, and their families. The second emphasis the authors explore is to contribute to providing a "voice" for parents who are being directly affected by relatively recent changes in federal policy on welfare. The authors research is a two-stage, multi-method project. The first stage involved secondary analysis of national data on over 2,800 families with children under six. The results of this stage of the project are reported in this research. The second stage of the project is currently underway, and focuses on in-depth interviews with a small group of families who have recently received cash assistance under the current welfare system.