Mother's little helpers.

• Author: Doherty, Brian
• Position: Welfare-to-Work Kids are all Right - Brief Article

THE WELFARE REFORM act of 1996 put many single welfare mothers back in the work force. While there was widespread concern that this would have bad effects on their children--who presumably benefit from a mom around the house, especially with no father around--preliminary research reported in the March 7 issue of the journal Science indicates otherwise.

A team of researchers led by P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale of Northwestern University surveyed 2,402 low-income children and their mothers in three cities. The kids, ages 2-4 and 10-14, were surveyed over the course of 16 months from 1999 to 2001. The researchers assessed the children's cognitive achievement, problem behaviors, and psychological well-being.

For the younger cohort, the study found that "whether or not the mother left welfare, entered welfare, took a job, or left a job between interviews had no discernible link to preschoolers' development." In other words, welfare reform seems to have neither helped nor hurt the young ones.

For the early adolescents, there was almost no noticeable effect. But where there was, "the most consistent...