State responses to the family formation goals of welfare

Current welfare policy discussions emphasize the potential role of marriage and two-parent family formation in alleviating poverty and improving child well-being. However, the marriage and family formation goals of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program were adopted within the context of unprecedented state flexibility in program design. This context prompted the need to understand state and local implementation of such goals. Using longitudinal data that track TANF implementation in 17 states, this study analyzes the policy choices that states made under TANF concerning marriage and family formation. Although states vary considerably in the implementation of family formation provisions, important patterns emerge in the strategies that states employ to meet these goals and in the degree to which they use the TANF program to do so.