Welfare To Work Programs: Lessons On Recent State Initiatives

Since the federally supported public assistance program became law in 1935, many developments have challenged our perceptions about the employability of welfare mothers and the appropriate design of the AFDC program. A consensus has been building that the AFDC program should be redesigned with the view that employable women and men have a responsibility to work and support their families. The result has been proposals stressing some form of work requirement. Several years ago, the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC) began a five‐year social experiment examining current state efforts to restructure the relationship between welfare and work. The MDRC demonstration addresses four questions. First, is it feasible to impose work‐related obligations as a condition of reviewing welfare? Second, what do workfare‐type programs look like in practice and how do welfare recipients themselves judge the fairness of mandatory requirements? Third, do these initiatives make a difference? Fourth, how do program benefits compare to costs? Issues, findings, and conclusions are related to these questions.