In 1994, Minnesota began testing a major welfare reform initiative that emphasized financial incentives for work, a participation requirement for long-term recipients, and the simplification of rules and procedures for receiving public assistance. MDRC conducted an in-depth evaluation of the Minnesota Family Investment Program's effectiveness and impact on various populations served. One of the striking findings of that evaluation was that a survey sample of two-parent recipient families assigned to MFIP were 19.1 percentage points, or 40 percent, more likely to be married at the three-year…
Employment rates for single mothers with dependent children have been rising, partly because of welfare reform and expansions in the Earned Income Tax Credit. This paper examines this trend and implications for future retirement security. The results show that employment and earnings gains for single mothers during the late 1990s will translate into modestly higher Social Security benefits and better retirement outcomes when they reach later life, assuming these trends persist. However, most single mothers will fare worse in retirement than other women, primarily because they generally earned…