ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights some basic issues raised by the design of the US welfare reform: What is the intent of time limits? Does the reform imply a risk of polarization? It argues the nature of the approach to evaluation: What about evaluating targeted programs versus antipoverty alternatives? Do the existing evaluations of the reforms provide any understanding of the agents' economic behavior? The chapter explores the lessons for the French system. "Evaluation" has become a profession for which there is a market in the United States. In the United States, long-established affirmative action has been a favorable factor for the development of evaluation. Many observers underline that the outcome of the welfare reform has been particularly striking with regard to family structure. Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act stipulates that the reform aims at creating two-parent families and at reducing nonmarital child birth.
