WASHINGTON _ Designed to boost the earnings and job prospects of low-income Americans, proposed work requirements for food stamp recipients could have another unexpected effect: causing deep poverty rates to spike among those who lose their benefits and can't find work, researchers say.
That's what happened to nearly 1 million single mothers in the years after the 1996 welfare reform legislation imposed work requirements and time limits on cash benefits provided through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, at a time when the U.S. economy was similarly thriving.
While many welfare recipients found work and earned their way out of poverty after the work requirements were enacted, others lost their TANF benefits when they couldn't meet the new law's required work activities.
