ABSTRACT
During the 1990s, as a result of a strong economy and ongoing welfare reform, welfare caseloads fell dramatically. In some states, the numbers of welfare recipients fell by over 80%; on average, the decline was approximately 60%. What happens to those welfare leavers and those potential recipients who never joined the rolls in the first place? Although numerous local analyses are underway to answer this broad question, the two major national surveys designed specifically with this question in mind are only now being publicly re-leased. 1 Fortunately, some information about the likely labor force behavior of these new workers can be gleaned from existing evidence concerning single mothers, particularly low-income single mothers. This chapter relies on data from 1994 using the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) tore-late work schedules of single mothers to child-care utilization patterns and then relate these findings to welfare reform.
