福利改革是否终结了我们所熟知的安全网? 1996 年以来的记录
Did Welfare Reform End the Safety Net as We Knew It? The Record since 1996
Journal of Economic Perspectives · 2025 · [{"name": "Lucie Schmidt", "affiliation": ["National Bureau of Economic Research"]}, {"name": "Lara Shore‐Sheppard", "affiliation": ["Williams College"]}, {"name": "Tara Watson", "affiliation": ["National Bureau of Economic Research"]}]
中文摘要
本文考察了自1996年福利改革承诺“终结我们所熟知的福利”以来，低收入家庭安全网的演变。总体支持方案已变得显著更为慷慨，但其性质发生了变化。支持已从每月现金转移转向税收抵免和实物福利，并扩大了对有工作家庭的支持，同时减少了对无收入家庭的支持。已婚父母家庭可获得的资源有所扩大，而无受抚养人的成年人可获得的资源仍然稀缺。我们还记录到，尽管各州灵活性有所增加，但由于联邦食品援助和税收抵免同时扩张，各州之间慷慨程度的差异并未扩大。总体而言，这些变化反映了围绕两个关键政策问题的持续争论：第一，在促进工作与防止物质困难之间，适当的权衡是什么？第二，在决定安全网慷慨程度方面，州政府与联邦政府各自应扮演什么角色？
Abstract
This paper examines the evolution of the safety net for low-income families since welfare reform in 1996 promised to “end welfare as we know it.” The total package of supports has become substantially more generous, but has changed in character. Support has shifted away from monthly cash transfers towards tax credits and in-kind benefits, and has expanded for working families while declining for those without earnings. Resources available to married-parent families have expanded, whereas those for adults without dependents remain scant. We also document that, despite expanded state flexibilities, variability in generosity across states did not grow due to simultaneous expansions of federal food assistance and tax credits. Overall, these changes reflect ongoing contention over two key policy issues. First, what is the appropriate trade-off between promoting work versus preventing material hardship? Second, what is the appropriate role for states versus the federal government in determining safety net generosity?