TOWARD WELFARE THAT WORKS

Welfare reform is high on the national agenda. This article clarifies facts about the welfare system provides behavioral analyses of welfare and working, and reviews current and potential policy initiatives wit h potential for producing lasting solutions. The most frequent approac h to the issue has been to cut benefits and exhort those on welfare to obtain employment, which may not be available or for which they may n ot be prepared. However; the demand to look more closely before cuttin g already desperately limited resources for families and children is n ot simply the cry of the old-time liberal; it is also the conclusion o f the careful empiricist. Analysis of the data suggest that (a) the mo st effective approaches will be those that are based primarily on offe ring adequate supports and incentives and (b) indiscriminate cuts and sanction-based programs are often based in myth and are likely to be i neffective and produce undesirable side effects.