Welfare Reform and States' Efforts to Prevent Births Outside of Marriage

Abstract:
[ARCHIVED] In 1996, Congress enacted the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a law that is designed to shift welfare recipients away from cash assistance toward work and which contains provisions to encourage two-parent families and to reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock births. This publication examines some implications of the law. The report looks at why teen pregnancy is an issue, noting that by some estimates, teen parents under age 17 cost the U.S. $6.9 billion per year. The report also discusses the following provisions of the law: bonus money from the federal government for the five states showing the highest reduction in abortions and births to unmarried mothers; enforcement of statutory rape laws; and abstinence education programs. The roles of Title X (a discretionary grant program for family planning and reproductive health services) and school-based health centers also are examined. The report is concise and informative and does a particularly good job of explaining the welfare reform law in terms that are easy to understand. Appendices list unmarried birth rates and teen birth rates for each state, as well as allotments for abstinence education and Title X.

Author(s): HOOVER, Sonja


Date Published: 5/1/1998

Pages: 22

Comments:
The cost of this publication is $10.

Location Code: 6298