TY  - JOUR
AU  - Blank,Rebecca M.
AU  - Ellwood,David T.
TI  - The Clinton Legacy for America's Poor
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8437
PY  - 2001
Y2  - August 2001
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8437
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8437.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Rebecca M. Blank
Under Secretary for Economic Affairs
Department of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Administration
Herbert C. Hoover Building, Room 4848
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC  20230
Tel: 202-482-3727
Fax: 202-482-0432
E-Mail: rblank@doc.gov

David T. Ellwood
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/495-1121
Fax: 617/496-9053
E-Mail: david_ellwood@harvard.edu
AB  - This paper examines the impact of Clinton era social policy changes on the poor.   It explores shifts in incentives, behavior, and incomes and discusses the role Clinton did or did not play in influencing the policy mix and the nature of the political debate surrounding poverty.  Policy changes included a radical shift in welfare policy, a sizable expansion in supports for low income workers with children, new child support enforcement measures, more restricted support for immigrants, and altered housing policies.  Partly as a result of these policies, but also in part due to the strong economy, welfare use plummeted, work rose dramatically among single parents, and poverty was reduced.  At the same time, there are indications that some families are doing worse than before and that some working families are not getting health and food benefits to which they are entitled.  Significant questions remain about what will happen to poor families in the next recession.
ER  -