WELFARE REFORM AND THE WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN

1996年的福利改革法案是自大萧条以来针对贫困家庭的公共政策的最大变化。赞助商认为，它的工作要求和现金援助的时间限制将使儿童受益，因为他们的父母将增加自尊和日常养生，导致更好的育儿方式，并将提供更好的榜样。反对者声称，新规定将伤害儿童，因为单亲父母试图将育儿和就业结合起来，会变得更有压力。我们认为，没有人能够先验地预测哪种观点是正确的，因为过去关于福利对儿童的影响的研究没有充分关注这些问题。因此，有必要对改革对儿童的影响进行新的研究，以了解这项具有里程碑意义的立法的影响。此外，这项研究提供了一个科学机会，可以扩大我们对更广泛的问题的认识，即父母的时间和金钱资源对儿童幸福的影响。我们建议在四年的时间里研究福利改革对美国不同地区三个城市儿童的影响：波士顿、芝加哥和圣安东尼奥。我们的概念框架结合了经济家庭生产模型和从发展心理学文献中得出的观点，并受到社会学和人种学研究的见解的启发。我们将在4年内每年访问2800个有0-4岁或10-14岁孩子的家庭，一半是福利领取者，一半是中低收入非福利依赖型家庭。在第三年，我们将增加1400个家庭的第二个队列。访谈将包括成人部分以及对儿童健康和福祉的直接评估。对于第一组中有2-4个孩子的800个家庭，嵌入的发育研究将从主要照顾者、儿童保育提供者和父亲或父亲人物那里获得进一步的信息。我们还将对这三个城市总共170个有2-4个孩子的家庭进行严格、深入的人种学研究，这些家庭分为非裔美国人、西班牙裔和非西班牙裔白人，其中一半人领取福利，另一半人没有福利工作-贫穷。

The 1996 welfare reform bill constitutes the greatest change in public policy toward poor families since the Great Depression. Sponsors believe that its work requirements and time limits on cash assistance will benefit children because their parents will have increased self-esteem and a daily regimen, leading to better parenting, and will provide better role models. Opponents claim that the new rules will hurt children because single parents will become more stressed as they attempt to combine child care and employment. We argue that no one can predict a priori which view is correct because past research on the effect of welfare on children has not focused sufficiently on these issues. A new study of the effects of the reforms on children is therefore necessary to understand the impact of this landmark legislation. In addition, such a study presents a scientific opportunity to extend our knowledge on the broader issue of the effects of parental time and money resources on child well-being. We propose to study the effects of welfare reform on children in 3 cities in different areas of the country: Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio over a four-year period. Our conceptual framework combines the economic household production model with perspectives drawn from the developmental psychology literature and is informed by insights from sociological and ethnographic research. We will interview annually for 4 years 2,800 families with children 0-4 or 10-14, half welfare recipients, half low-to-moderate income, non- welfare-dependent families. In year 3 we will add a 2nd cohort of 1,400 families. The interview will include an adult component and also direct assessments of children's health and well-being. For 800 of the families in cohort 1 with children 2-4, an embedded developmental study will obtain further information from primary caregivers, child care providers, and fathers or father figures. We will also conduct rigorous, in-depth ethnographic studies of a total of 170 families with children 2-4 in the 3 cities, divided among African Americans, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites, half of them receiving welfare and half of them non-welfare working-poor.