, Columnist
Did Welfare Reform Reduce Poverty? Define 'Poverty'
Official measures of poverty aren’t very good. Alternatives are destined to be controversial.
Did it work?
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When Bill Clinton signed welfare reform into law, the outrage from the left was incandescent. Peter Edelman, a prominent official in Health and Human Services, resigned in protest and wrote an article for the Atlantic calling it “The Worst Thing Bill Clinton Has Done” and declaring that “it will hurt millions of poor children by the time it is fully implemented.” And that was one of the nicer responses.
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was really critical: