U.S. Welfare Reform: What's Relevant for Europe?

This paper reviews the U.S. welfare reform efforts over the 1990s and the effects of these reforms to date. Seven “lessons” of potential interest to European observers are discussed, with particular attention to the conclusions of more recent research. Such research indicates, for example, that more effective programs contain both positive and negative incentives, utilize work-first as well as job training programs, and provide some important supports beyond just job and work skills. The paper ends with some speculations about why European policy-makers are becoming more interested in U.S. welfare reform experiments than they have been in the past.