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Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA instituted child support agencies in the late 1900s and had some policies that resulted in having lowered governmental expenditures when child support was paid. Building on previous research comparing these four countries, this article examines the extent to which these countries currently use explicit cost recovery policies, implicit policies revealed in programme interactions, and fees. Using data from country informants on hypothetical families, we show the percentage of child support payments that are retained through these different tools. In addition to characterizing country approaches, we discuss advantages and disadvantages of different cost-recovery strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the extent to which child support is helping custodial-mother families move out of poverty or move closer to the poverty line in Colombia. Data come from the 2008 Quality of Life Survey, which provides information for 3,359 custodial-mother families. We calculate poverty rates and poverty gaps using both pre-child-support and post-child-support income, for all custodial-mother families and the subgroup of these families receiving child support. Results show that among those poor families who received child support, it brought 32 per cent of them out of poverty, and had even larger effects on extreme poverty. For those who receive it, child support reduces the poverty gap by about one-third. International comparisons suggest that single parents in Colombia are doing much worse than single parents in Scandinavian countries but about the same with respect to those in some Anglo-Saxon countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study identified the employment and earnings trajectories of welfare recipients over six years for a sample of 14,150 women who entered the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) in Wisconsin in its first year. Wisconsin longitudinal administrative data were used to examine differential patterns of mid-term (three years) and long-term (six years) employment and earnings success. We developed a conceptual approach to categorizing participants' employment and earnings trajectory groups. Results indicate substantial diversity in employment and earnings patterns. Some women have consistently positive outcomes, others show steady improvements over time, and others have inconsistent patterns that end strong. We found that 46% of the sample fit into one of three successful employment trajectories, and 22% fit into one of three successful earnings trajectories. Results also reveal that many women who were successful in the mid-term were not able to sustain their progress. For example, only 56% of those who were earning successes in the mid-term were still successful in the long-term. Finally, logistic regression models were used to compare the factors associated with mid-term and long-term success and with employment success and earnings success. Implications of findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welfare programs changed dramatically in 1996. Caseloads dropped by more than 9 million recipients over an eight-year period, and millions entered the labor market in the wake of these changes. Since the start of the "welfare revolution," research has emerged to document the new ways former welfare recipients are using federal entitlement programs as they navigate and negotiate the "post-AFDC" era. In this article, the authors examine patterns of participation in TANF, the Food Stamp program, and Medicaid in Wisconsin. Very distinct patterns of participation emerged among the three programs: a single short period of receipt was common for TANF, cycling was typical for food stamps, and a long spell was the standard for Medicaid. The authors also explored multiple program participation over a three-year period. Analysis revealed interactions and transitions not normally considered in this line of research. One key finding was the high number of transitions on and off benefits during these three years when the three programs were considered simultaneously. Policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current welfare reforms attempt to move low-income women with children from reliance on welfare to work. The logic of some current efforts relies on the thesis that employment, even in low-paying jobs, leads eventually to self-sufficiency. With data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the authors analyzed the relationship between work history and economic success during the first five years after women leave welfare. They found that over time median wages and hours worked increased and that earnings generally improved. Nonetheless, even in the fifth year, only one in four consistently worked full-time. Although current welfare reforms are focused on moving women into jobs quickly, results cited in this article suggest that employment itself is not a guarantee of economic success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the adequacy of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for elderly individuals and couples. Reference points to measure adequacy; Poverty threshold; Half of median income; Basic needs costs and aid to families with dependent children; Statistics on SSI benefits for aged individuals and couples; Policy options to improve the incomes of recipients.

The article discusses affects of three government sponsored programs that offered refundable tax credit for children, national health insurance and an assured child support benefit for families with children, operating on their own and together. Effects of programs interacting with one another would be much larger than the sum of effects produced by each program alone. As a result of interaction effects, poverty rates drop by 43 percent rather than only 34 percent and AFDC caseloads shrink by 22 percent instead of only two percent. The implication for social work is that multifaceted universal programs are an especially effective means to combat poverty and welfare dependence. To remedy these shortcomings derived from overtargeting, government-sponsored studies of the U.S. welfare system in the 1960s advocated lowering the benefit reduction rate in welfare programs and extending eligibility for welfare benefits to two-parent, working poor families. Academic studies in 1980s generally focused on the shortcomings of income testing per se.