INCOME AND HARDSHIP: Programs that supplemented earnings increased income; programs that relied solely on employment gains usually left income unchanged and did not change families' financial or material well-being substantially.

Programs that included provisions to supplement low earnings, usually by allowing recipients to keep some of their welfare benefits when they took jobs, increased income and reduced poverty. The programs' rules typically re-quired parents to work full time in order to receive supplement payments. More Programs that combined mandates, earnings supplements, and time limits - as most states currently do - increased income in the period before the time limit went into effect, but the income gains disappeared once the time limit was reached and welfare support was withdrawn. More Few effects were found on a wide range of material hardship measures in the studies of programs with time limits, suggesting that the states put in place effective protections for vulnerable families.  More