About the Project

This research project is an intensive study in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio to assess the well-being of low-income children and families in the post-welfare reform era. The project investigates the strategies families have used to respond to reform, in terms of employment, schooling or other forms of training, residential mobility, and fertility. Central to this project is a focus on how these strategies affect children's lives, with an emphasis on their health and development as well as their need for, and use of, social services.

The study comprises three interrelated components: longitudinal surveys, embedded developmental studies, and contextual, comparative ethnographic studies. Fieldwork began in 1999. The figure above describes the history of the project. Click on the link for each component or read our Design Report to learn more.