Welfare Policies and Adolescent School Performance

Welfare and work policies that aim to increase employment among single parents can have negative effects on their adolescent children's school progress. Aggregating data from eight studies of 16 welfare and work programs designed to increase the self-sufficiency of low-income parents, MDRC researchers and their colleagues in the Next Generation project report that the proportion of adolescent children of parents participating in the programs who performed above average in school decreased, while the proportions of youngsters who performed below average, repeated a grade or received special education services rose.

The adverse effects of welfare and work policies on adolescent school performance are small, but they are important enough to warrant policymakers’ attention. Welfare reform programs may not undermine participation in school, but they do affect the academic progress of youth who are already at considerable risk of not completing school.

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