Families on welfare: the number of caseloads creeps up.

• Position: Graph Exercise

In the mid 1990s, there was a great push by state governments to get people off welfare, defined as government-assistance programs for those in financial need. Some reforms required recipients to participate in job training or other self-help programs. For a while, the results looked promising, with thousands of individuals and families leaving welfare. But studies conducted between March 2001 and Sept. 2002 reveal a reversal, with the percentage of families on welfare rising in 27 states. The news is not all bad, however; 24 states have recorded decreases in the percentage of families on welfare. The data on the graph show the states with the largest increases and the largest decreases in family welfare caseloads, plus the national average increase and national average decrease.

[GRAPHIC OMITTED]

1. About how many percentage points separate the state with the greatest increase in the percentage of families on welfare and the state with the greatest decrease in the percentage of families on welfare? (a) 63 percentage points (c) 85 percentage points (b) 94 percentage points (d) 105 percentage points 2. There is about a 5 percentage-point difference between two states in the group with the highest increase in the percentage of families on welfare. Which states? and 3. When he served as a governor, Tommy G. Thompson, now the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, gained a national...