Jamie B. Stewart, Jr.

English

Research Papers in Economics

FRBNY Economic Policy Review / September 2001 1
Opening Remarks
ood morning. I am delighted to welcome you to our
 conference “Welfare Reform Four Years Later: Progress 
and Prospects.” In 1996, sweeping legislative changes in public 
assistance ushered in a period of remarkable change in how 
welfare is administered in New York, New Jersey, and the 
nation as a whole. The purpose of today’s conference is to 
explore the nature of the reforms introduced, the consequences 
of these changes, and the prospects for the future.
It was the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 
Reconciliation Act of 1996 that set welfare reform in motion 
these past several years. The name says it all: work and 
responsibility. The act was designed to encourage welfare 
recipients to find work and to take personal responsibility for 
their efforts. The motivation for the legislation was to reduce 
the number of people on public assistance while at the same 
time increasing the number of people with jobs. The goal, in 
short, was responsible economic self-sufficiency for the least 
advantaged Americans.
Four years later, we may reasonably ask: Has welfare reform 
been successful? Have more people reached economic self-
sufficiency as a result of this legislation?
In broad terms, what we have found is that the number of 
people on public assistance has fallen dramatically in the past 
few years. Welfare caseloads today are one-half the peak they 
reached in 1994. There are a number of open questions, 
however, some of which we will explore today.
One question concerns the issue of time limits. Under 
the 1996 legislation, each family on public assistance faces a 
maximum number of years it can receive welfare. For example, 
quite a few New Yorkers may run out of eligibility for welfare 
benefits in 2002. Will these families be able to find jobs? How 
much do macroeconomic conditions matter?
At the level of the individual families, a related question 
we may well ask is what has happened to each of the families 
that left the welfare rolls? Some of these families may be 
economically self-sufficient, but others may have fared far 
less well.
A second issue to consider is the impact of the legislation on 
high-risk women—women without much education or work 
experience. Does anything special need to be done to help these 
hard-to-employ women?
Finally, we also want to think about our own area, the 
Second District, which encompasses New York, New Jersey, 
and Fairfield County. The 1996 legislation gave each state 
wide latitude to formulate its own welfare policy. Thus, an 
obvious question is how has the experience of the New York– 
New Jersey region differed from that of the rest of the country? 
Can we learn anything about these differences?
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is pleased to provide 
a forum to address these issues. In fact, one of our jobs here at 
the Bank is to facilitate the free exchange of ideas on public 
policy. We certainly think that monetary policy is important, 
Jamie B. Stewart, Jr.
Jamie B. Stewart, Jr., is first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank 
of New York.
G2 Opening Remarks
but we also recognize that social policy matters. Some of you 
may have been to our 1999 conference on income inequality. 
We are also organizing a conference on productivity to be held 
in November 2001. Our conferences are unique because they 
are nonpartisan and bring together academics, practitioners, 
and other experts. 
We hope that today’s conference will begin to provide 
answers to some of the questions I have raised. We also look 
forward to learning from each other.
Our conference speakers represent diverse areas of 
expertise. We are pleased that leading representatives from the 
fields of economics and sociology are joining us today to 
present their latest research on welfare reform outcomes. The 
panel of discussants for the conference’s closing session includes 
distinguished representatives from business, public health, and 
community services. And we are especially fortunate to have 
the New York State Executive Deputy Commissioner of Labor, 
James Dillon, as our luncheon speaker.
Finally this morning, I would like to emphasize how much 
we value the participation of all of you in the audience. Most of 
you here today also bring a wealth of experience in welfare 
reform that we want very much to incorporate in our 
conference proceedings. Thus, we have scheduled specific time 
for discussion at the end of the day. We also intend to leave 
time at the end of each of the individual sessions for open 
discussion.
Today’s conference promises to be both informative and 
productive, and once again I am delighted to welcome you.

Welfare reform four years later: progress and prospects - opening remarks

http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/epr/01v07n2/0109stew.pdf

Welfare reform four years later: progress and prospects - opening remarks

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