Children in Single-Parent Families Living in Poverty Have Fewer Supports after Welfare Reform

Since welfare reform, impoverished children in single-parent families receive less aid than under the previous system and the most disadvantaged of these children have slipped deeper into poverty. This Research-in-Brief summarizes a study that explores the economic well-being of children in low-income single-parent families since the 1996 passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) or welfare reform. Specifically, we examine how family income and access to health insurance, food stamps, and cash assistance changed for children in low-income single-parent families between 1996 and 2000. While child poverty has improved overall (the share of low-income children living in poverty has fallen), children in poor single-parent families in 2000 are less likely to receive cash assistance, Medicaid, and food stamps. Even the most disadvantaged children—those living in extreme poverty, defined as below half the poverty line—are less likely to receive benefits now than previously.