CHILDHOOD WELFARE RECEIPT AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF WELFARE-REFORM

The 1996 welfare legislation has generated significant debate about th e likely consequences of welfare reform for children in disadvantaged families. We document patterns of childhood welfare receipt for childr en born between 1967 and 1975 and predict the level and composition of children likely to be affected by the new welfare law. We find that 4 0 percent of children who received Aid to Families with Dependent Chil dren (AFDC) did so for more than 5 years. Nearly all of them lived in families that relied on AFDC for more than half of their income for so me years. The data also show an increase in the proportion of preschoo l children and Caucasians receiving welfare since 1967.