The Effects of Time Limits and Other Policy Changes on Welfare Use, Work, and Income Among Female-Headed Families

49 Pages Posted: 1 Mar 2001 Last revised: 13 Oct 2022

See all articles by Jeffrey Grogger

Jeffrey Grogger

University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: March 2001

Abstract

Of all of the welfare reforms that were implemented during the 1990's, time limits may represent the single greatest break from past policy. This paper expands on what is known about this important welfare reform measure by exploiting the predictions from Grogger and Michalopoulos (1999) to estimate the effects of time limits on welfare use, employment, labor supply, earnings, and income among female-headed families. Results based on data from the March Current Population Survey suggest that time limits have had important effects on welfare use and work, accounting for about one-eighth of the decline in welfare use and about 7 percent of the rise in employment since 1993. They have had no significant effect on earnings or income, however. The analysis also shows that the collective effects of other reforms have had important impacts on employment and labor supply. Furthermore, it identifies the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) as a particularly important contributor to both the recent decrease in welfare use and the recent increase in employment, labor supply, and earnings.

Suggested Citation

Grogger, Jeffrey T., The Effects of Time Limits and Other Policy Changes on Welfare Use, Work, and Income Among Female-Headed Families (March 2001). NBER Working Paper No. w8153, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=262108

Jeffrey T. Grogger (Contact Author)

University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy ( email )

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Chicago, IL 60637
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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United States

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