Children in disadvantaged US households have poorer education, health and family outcomes, and it is not well understood how safety net policy changes affect them in the short and long run.

Intervention: 1990s US welfare reform (state waivers and the TANF program), studied for effects on children's test scores, adult education, family structure, health insurance, healthcare use and health status.

Practitioner

What was found

Reading test scores were higher by about 6 percent of a standard deviation, and college graduation was 9 percent more likely, with larger effects for women.
Asthma was 17 percent lower among African American children, and all children had 3-5 more healthy days per year.
Annual checkups were 3-5 percent less likely, and there was no change in insurance coverage.
There was some evidence of higher marriage rates and fewer out-of-wedlock births.

Who it was tested with: US children from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement, followed into adulthood through age 28 using the Transition to Adulthood Supplement..

Type of design

PractitionerAnalysis of longitudinal survey data comparing children treated by welfare reform with untreated children. The abstract does not name the exact estimation method.

Experience from people who deliver programmes: stories, case studies and lessons learned. Valuable for understanding how and why, and for spotting what to test next, but not a measure of effect.

"Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) Child Development Supplement (CDS) and the Transition to Adulthood Supplement (TAS), I examine the short-run effects of welfare reform ... and the long-run impact" - this shows a longitudinal design following treated individuals into adulthood, though the comparison method is not spelled out.

Limitations

The abstract gives no detail on how the comparison group was built. Some health findings are described as suggestive, and results are specific to US data. The SNAP essay is a separate analysis and is not covered by this record.

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What was found

Reading test scores were higher by about 6 percent of a standard deviation, and college graduation was 9 percent more likely, with larger effects for women.

Asthma was 17 percent lower among African American children, and all children had 3-5 more healthy days per year.

Annual checkups were 3-5 percent less likely, and there was no change in insurance coverage.

There was some evidence of higher marriage rates and fewer out-of-wedlock births.

Who it was tested with: US children from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement, followed into adulthood through age 28 using the Transition to Adulthood Supplement..

Type of design

PractitionerAnalysis of longitudinal survey data comparing children treated by welfare reform with untreated children. The abstract does not name the exact estimation method.

Experience from people who deliver programmes: stories, case studies and lessons learned. Valuable for understanding how and why, and for spotting what to test next, but not a measure of effect.

"Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) Child Development Supplement (CDS) and the Transition to Adulthood Supplement (TAS), I examine the short-run effects of welfare reform ... and the long-run impact" - this shows a longitudinal design following treated individuals into adulthood, though the comparison method is not spelled out.

Limitations

What was found

Type of design

Limitations

The same intervention in other studies

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What was found

Type of design

Limitations

The same intervention in other studies