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Does Welfare Reform Work In Rural America? A 7-Year Follow-Up, Ann Tickamyer, Debra Henderson, Barry Tadlock

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Even before the advent of welfare reform, studies of low income working and welfare dependent groups showed that low wage working women are worse off than those who combine welfare with other income sources and that most used a wide variety of livelihood strategies. This is especially the case in poor rural settings where work is scarce and additional obstacles to employment such as lack of transportation and childcare are endemic. Data from a selfadministered survey of users of human service agency programs in four counties in a distressed region of Appalachian Ohio in 1999, 2001, and 2005, provide a …