Welfare Reform: PA gets poor grades

The Heartland Institute has a new report, Welfare Reform after Ten Years: A State-by-State Analysis (for PDF version click here) ranking the states both on welfare outcomes – through 2006 – and welfare reform policies. Pennsylvania ranks near the bottom or in the middle on most measures.

• Overall: 41st (F)
• Anti-Poverty Success: 38th (D-)
• Decline in TANF participants: 57.6% (35th)
• Change in Poverty Rate 0.6% increase (31st)
• TANF Workforce Participation: 26.1% (41st)
• Change in Unemployment Rate: -0.4% (21st)
• Change in Teenage Birth Rate: -7.6* (38th)
• Reform Policies: 39th (D-)