ncome of AFDC, many welfare mothers had experienced difficulties in elevating their families from the depths of poverty. Therefore, the elimination of welfare programs, the cuts in spending and the sanctions further undermine the capacity of these welfare mothers to improve their lives. In this paper, this author will attempt to provide an overview of the impact of welfare reform on female welfare recipients living in different circumstances.
Key provisions of the welfare reform
Through the PRWORA, ADFCùan open-ended assistance that ensures life-long financial assistance to eligible recipients was replaced by block grants to states under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The funding of this program is intended to be reduced by $55 billion over a period of six years (Stoesz, 1999, p. 58). The central provisions of TANF are as follows: 1) Welfare recipients can only receive benefits for five years. States are allowed to impose even shorter time limits; and 2) Welfare recipients are required to make preparations for work after 24 months, or risk losing some or all benefits (Pantazis, 1997, p. 10).
Furthermore, the states are expected to increase the number of recipients participating in the workforce from 25 percent working in 1997 to 50 percent in 2002. Only 20 percent of the cases can be exempted from the new regulations of the welfare reform (Stoesz, 1999, p. 58). To accomplish this objective, the states are given numerous options to decrease welfare payments. For example, states can refuse benefits to children born to a past or current welfare recipient in order to discourage the recipients from having more children. In addition, unmarried teen parents and their children can also be denied benefits (Duncan, & Brooks-Gunn, 1997, p. 68). Women have to identify the fathers of their children and cooperate with the state to obtain child support (Lawton et al., 1999, p. 560).
In order to examine the i...