Welfare and Poverty

     By limiting life time welfare benefits to 60 months, the Welfare Reform Act of August 1996 -abolished the safety net needy families had relied on for the past six decades. Academics and practioners have been engaged in a heated debate about the likely impacts of welfare reform. Will states succeed in moving people from welfare to jobs, especially if there is an economic downturn? What kind of support policies are needed to enable welfare recipients to get and keep a job? How can we create enough jobs at a living wage? And which policies will be most effective to support people who fall through the cracks of welfare reform?

      The Center confronted these questions in a symposium entitled "Fighting Poverty in the Post-Welfare Era: A Debate." on April 24, 1998. Four prominent experts with opposing points of view examined the success or failure of current directions in welfare policy and debated both the likely outcome of current reforms and what actions should be taken now to address the persistence of poverty in the 50 states.

Panel Participants:

Mary Jo Bane (John F.Kennedy School)
Diane Dujon (Center for Community and Public Service, University of Massachusetts Boston)
Frances Fox Piven (City University of New York)
Lawrence Mead (New York University)

Moderator: Jason DeParle (New York Times)

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