Title: Caps on kids: family cap in the new welfare era. A fact sheet.

POPLINE Document Number: 276714

Corporate Author(s):

Center For Law and Social Policy [CLASP]

Source citation:

Washington, D.C., CLASP, 1999 Feb. [10] p.

Abstract:

Traditionally, a family’ welfare grant modestly increases when a baby is born; for example, the increment is 80 cents per day in Mississippi to $3.50 per day in California. In 1992, New Jersey became the first state to change this practice by “capping” the family’s grant. Today, 23 states are implementing some type of “family cap” or “child exclusion” policy which typically precludes the family from receiving the incremental grant increase. By limiting families’ access to this increment, policymakers have sought to reduce birth rates and encourage “personal responsibility.” The 1996 federal overhaul of welfare law creates an entirely new policy context. Previously, families could access assistance for as long as they qualified and many participants were not subject to work requirements. Today, federal welfare is restricted to a life-time limit of 60 months of assistance for the entire family; it also generally requires that the head of household work within 24 months. In other words, while family cap policies sought to limit a family’s grant, the 1996 welfare law eliminates federal assistance for the entire family after 60 months of cumulative receipt. Thus, it is possible to view the family cap as a vestige of a defunct welfare law. Evaluation data from early implementation states is mixed. New Jersey’s final findings are the first and only to indicate that the family cap achieved the intended goal of decreasing births among welfare recipients; however, the decrease in births is accompanied by an increase in abortions and the denial of the traditional grant increase for many newborns. (excerpt)

Keywords:

United States
Critique
Evaluation
Family and Household
Social Security
Family Size
Family Planning Policy
Legislation
Financing, Government
Sexual Responsibility
Microeconomic Factors
Family Policy
Developed Countries
North America
Americas
Financial Activities
Economic Factors
Family Characteristics
Family Planning
Population Policy
Social Policy
Policy
Sex Behavior
Behavior