and families." In addition in the labor economy, most women are relegated to service sector jobs and jobs dubbed as low-wage earning jobs. Because of these factors, women are in a unique position when it comes to welfare, poverty, and work. Without proper education and training programs, women are often not able to obtain jobs that provide an income large enough to lift themselves and their families out of welfare. Another major impact of work requirements on women in welfare programs is the absence of adequate and affordable child care. This issue disproportionately affects single mothers on welfare who are required to get a job but are also the primary caregiver to their children. According to census data from 1995, one year before PWORWA was enacted, found that "11 million children under age 6 have mothers who work outside the hoe and thus make use of some form of child care. It has been estimated that this number will increase by almost 2 million when mothers who previously received AFDC assistance are required to find employment." Child care provides a critical barrier to low-income mothers who now are required to find work. Consequences Welfare and poverty rates both declined during the late 1990s, leading many commentators to declare that the legislation was a success. One editorial in The New Republic opined, "A broad consensus now holds that welfare reform was certainly not a disaster—and that it may, in fact, have worked much as its designers had hoped." However, the number of welfare recipients declined much more sharply than the poverty rate, with a national average of 56% reduction in welfare caseloads and 1% reduction in poverty. The number of children living in extreme poverty, defined as a household income below 50% of the poverty line, increased, with a sharper increase among African-American families. PRWORA redirected the responsibility for service provisions from federal administrations to state administrations, leading to greater inequality between states as one program was replaced by 50. States were given control over the amount of money dedicated to social safety net programs. States also gained the ability to impose rules and restrictions on how people could access and use social services. Impact on federal budget The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated in March 1999 that the TANF basic block grant (authorization to spend) would total $16.5 billion annually through 2002, with the amount allocated to each state based