This paper reviews the recent literature evaluating the effectiveness of US Welfare Reforms implemented in the 90’s and based on a “Work First” Strategy applied mostly to single mothers beneficiaries of TANF. In the first section, we present in a historical perspective the 1996 Welfare Reform and its major characteristics. We address in the second section, the question of the methodologies adopted in the literature to assess the outcome of the Welfare Reform. In a third section, we present the most robust results provided by these various evaluation studies. Finally, in an open conclusion, we raise the issue of the scope of these results and underline the risks inferred by the Federal Welfare Reform 1996 on Single mothers in a weak macro-economic environment: should economic conditions deteriorate, there is a risk for leaving a fraction of the population without any safety net.
Classification JEL: D6, I32, I38