Welfare Reform Turns 20: Looking Back, Going Forward

Conference

August 22, 2016 9:00 AM to 12:45 PM EDT

1st floor/Wintergarden

Featuring Ron Haskins, Co-director, Brookings Center on Children and Families, Brookings Institution; Heather Hahn, Senior Fellow, Urban Institute; Robert VerBruggen, Managing Editor, The American Conservative; Scott Winship, Walter B. Wriston Fellow, Manhattan Institute; Rebecca Vallas, Managing Director, Poverty to Prosperity Program, Center for American Progress; Michael Strain, Director of Economic Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute; William Voegeli, Senior Editor, Claremont Review of Books; Visiting Scholar, Henry Salvatori Center, Claremont McKenna College; LaDonna Pavetti, Vice President for Family Income Support Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; and Michael D. Tanner, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute.

Welfare reform was not just one of the most important legislative achievements of its era, it continues to serve as the starting point for discussions of poverty and inequality today. The conference will look back at the goals of welfare reform and whether or not it has achieved them, as well as looking forward to next steps. We hope to answer such questions as the following: Did welfare reform achieve its goal of moving people from welfare to work? Did welfare reform improve economic self-sufficiency and mobility? How did welfare reform impact family structure, health, and child achievement? Did reformed welfare still provide an adequate safety net during the economic turbulence of the last decade? Is welfare reform still relevant today? How can we build on welfare reform to reduce poverty and increase opportunity? What should a safety net look like in the future?

9:00–9:30AM	Opening Remarks Michael D. Tanner, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute Download the Video of the Event Download the Podcast of the Event
9:30–11:00AM	Panel 1: The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act: Success, Failure, or Incomplete? Heather Hahn, Senior Fellow, Urban Institute Ron Haskins, Co-director, Brookings Center on Children and Families, Brookings Institution Robert VerBruggen, Managing Editor, The American Conservative Scott Winship, Walter B. Wriston Fellow, Manhattan Institute Download the Video of the Event Download the Podcast of the Event
11:00–11:15AM	Break
11:15AM–12:45PM	Panel 2: Where Do We Go from Here? LaDonna Pavetti, Vice President for Family Income Support Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Michael Strain, Director of Economic Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute Rebecca Vallas, Managing Director, Poverty to Prosperity Program, Center for American Progress William Voegeli, Senior Editor, Claremont Review of Books; Visiting Scholar, Henry Salvatori Center, Claremont McKenna College Download the Video of the Event Download the Podcast of the Event

If you can’t make it to the event, you can watch it live online at www.cato.org/live and join the conversation on Twitter using #Welfare20th. Follow @CatoEvents on Twitter to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute.