welfare
...f exempt women voluntarily rose as much during the last decade as those subject to work requirements. The results suggest the decade=s large employment gains for single mothers are not the result of work requirement changes, nor the increased state participation mandates. Additional analysis implies the success of welfare reform lies not in the tougher work requirements, but in rising wages, increased job opportunities, and time limits. Are Family Caps Affecting Fertility or Mobility? A Test for Welfare Magnets The dissertation=s second essay analyzes the family cap policy=s impact on mobility. Family caps deny families welfare benefit increases when a recipient gives birth to a new child. However, benefit determination in neighboring states are based on total family size at program entry. Thus, recipients who give birth to new children in family cap states face increasing potential benefits in states other than the state of residence, widening the interstate difference in cash grant levels. Policymakers and researchers have long wondered whether welfare recipients move for higher welfare benefits, an important debate because welfare reform increased variation in state welfare programs. The results of a differences-in-differences analysis suggest that welfare recipients with newborns subject to the family cap are as much as 22 times more likely to change states of residence than women in the control groups. Welfare Cohabitation Penalties and Parental Support for Single Mothers Before welfare reform, states were allowed to reduce a welfare recipient=s cash grant ...