WELFARE REFORM AND THE WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN

1996年的福利改革法案是大萧条以来对贫困家庭的公共政策的最大变化。赞助者认为，其工作要求和现金援助的时间限制将使儿童受益，因为他们的父母将提高自尊心和日常养生，从而更好地养育子女，并将提供更好的榜样。 反对者声称，新规定将伤害儿童，因为单亲父母在试图将儿童保育和就业联合收割机结合起来时会变得压力更大。我们认为，没有人可以预测先验的观点是正确的，因为过去的研究对儿童福利的影响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，以了解这一具有里程碑意义的立法的影响。 此外，这样的研究提供了一个科学的机会，以扩大我们的知识更广泛的问题，父母的时间和金钱资源对儿童福祉的影响。 我们建议在美国不同地区的三个城市（波士顿、芝加哥和圣安东尼奥）研究福利改革对儿童的影响，为期四年。 我们的概念框架结合了经济家庭生产模型与发展心理学文献中的观点，并从社会学和人种学研究中获得了见解。我们将在4年内每年采访2,800个有0-4岁或10-14岁儿童的家庭，其中一半是福利领取者，一半是中低收入、非福利依赖家庭。 在第三年，我们将增加第二批1,400个家庭。 访谈将包括成人部分，并直接评估儿童的健康和福祉。 对于队列1中有2-4个孩子的800个家庭，嵌入式发展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的170个有2-4个孩子的家庭进行严格、深入的人种学研究，这些家庭分为非洲裔美国人、西班牙裔美国人和非西班牙裔白人，其中一半接受福利，一半是非福利工作穷人。

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.