to slow the expansion of inequality and may have actually accelerated the trend. Has welfare reform created job opportunities for the poor? Has it promoted wages that allow low-wage workers to escape poverty? In both of these areas, the economic story remains the same: we have little evidence that reform has produced achievements that warrant the label of success. See also The 2007–2009 Great Recession in the United States Social programs in the United States Child support Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 Tax Reform Act of 1986 Welfare's effect on poverty International: Self-Sufficiency Project References Further reading Albelda, Randy and Ann Withorn (eds). Lost Ground: Welfare Reform, Poverty, and Beyond. Brooklyn, New York: South End Press, 2002. . Riccucci, Norma M. How Management Matters: Street-Level Bureaucrats and Welfare Reform. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2005. . External links Text of PRWORA (PDF from GPO) PRWORA of 1996 5 Frequently Asked Questions for "TANF Assistance" Welfare Reform: Searching for a Pattern of Efficiency(analysis of relationship between each state's block grant expenditures and their unemployment rates) Marlo Donald: The bizarre tale of a "fugitive felon." Repost of New Haven Advocate April 26, 2007 article Welfare and the Politics of Poverty, a short documentary by Retro Report that examines the 20th anniversary of welfare reform and how it has worked out. Acts of the 104th United States Congress Clinton administration initiatives United States federal welfare and public assistance legislation Welfare reform Work relief programs