Opening Statement of the Hon. Wally Herger, a Representative in Congress from the State of California, and 
Chairman, Subcommittee in Human Resources

Hearing on Welfare Reform and Work

April 3, 2001

The subject of today's hearing is work requirements and welfare reform.

At our first hearing, we heard that welfare reform has had a number of positive effects. Caseloads are down 50 percent, incomes are up, and more than two million children have been lifted out of poverty nationwide. There are many factors behind those impressive results, but none more important than work.

Since States started reforming welfare and the 1996 law took hold, a renewed ethic of work has swept over America's welfare system and the families who had come to depend on it. The best measure of this change is what happened among low-income workers, especially women. Today single mothers are more likely to work than even married mothers, with working never-married mothers close behind. That is a dramatic shift from the early 1990s, when fewer than half of never-married mothers worked.

The result? According to the Urban Institute, mothers even in the bottom two-fifths of income earners have gained ground. How? Because they are working and so earning more. And in place of welfare they are earning new benefits like the Earned Income Credit, which rewards work.

The purpose of today's hearing is to help us better understand this renewed work ethic, the implications for former, current and would-be recipients, and what this all means as we take a look at more reforms in the coming year.

First, we will hear from practitioners and beneficiaries in cities and states around the country. They will tell us how the most aggressive work programs have changed the lives of beneficiaries and entire communities. Next, we will hear how the business community has stepped up to help put former recipients in jobs. Then, we'll get some perspective on moral issues involved in requiring work for benefits. And finally, we will hear from experts about work requirements, both under the new cash welfare block grant and related programs.

Considering the changes we have seen and our hopes for future progress, this is an exciting topic.