August 23, 1999
Web posted at: 5:07 p.m. EDT (2107 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Incomes of some of the poorest families and children in the nation fell in recent years even as the economy as a whole surged, according to a study that raises questions about the impact of welfare reform.

The study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, based on census data, found the average incomes of the poorest fifth of female-headed families with children rose between 1993 and 1995. But that income fell from 1995 to 1997 despite continued national economic growth, according to the study entitled "The Initial Impacts of Welfare Reform on the Economic Well-Being of Single Mother Families."

"It is disturbing that substantial numbers of children and families are sinking more deeply into poverty when we have the strongest economy in decades and when substantial amounts of funds provided to states to assist these families are going unused," said Wendell Primus, the study's lead author.

Between 1995 and 1997, the study found that the income of the poorest 20 percent of households headed by women with children fell an average of $580 per family. Among the poorest 10 percent of female-headed families with children, incomes fell an average of $810 between 1995 and 1997, or one-seventh of the families' incomes.

"The income decline these families experience wiped out all of the income gains they secured between 1993 and 1995 and returned average income for this group to the levels of 1993, when unemployment was high," the study concluded.

The study counted food stamps, housing subsidies, the Earned Income Tax Credit and other such benefits as income, a practice most researchers favor. But even when these benefits are included, these families have incomes below three-quarters of the poverty line, the study said.

The report found the drops were caused largely "by sharp reductions in the government cash and food assistance support these poor families received." In 1995, about 88 percent of poor children received food stamps; in 1998, only about 70 percent did, the study said.

According to the study, reduced government benefits exceeded increases in family earnings, "causing very poor female-headed families with children to lose ground."

Based on its findings, the report warned against declaring welfare reform "an unqualified success." Emphasis should be more on income and poverty outcomes than on caseload, according to the survey.

Monday, August 23, 1999

• Dole courts women's vote in California
• GOP candidates urge Bush to put drug question to rest
• Poor female-headed families lose ground during economic boom
• Election 2000 briefs
• Thurmond hospitalized again, will have prostate surgery
• Daley moves out of father's shadow, leaves his own Chicago legacy
• For first time since statehood, Kentucky GOP has Senate majority
• Clinton back golfing: Bad shots, good relaxation
• The first Clinton-Giuliani contest is for money
• Speakership changes Hastert's life
• U.S. Senate candidate Lincoln Chafee says he tried cocaine in college
• Clinton on saxophone: 'My Funny Valentine'
• Minnesota's governor returns to his wrestling roots

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