Therefore, work hours are scaled back or eliminated. If the amount of the no-work transfer is large enough, the individual may decide not to work at all. The evidence indicates that income-tested transfers cause welfare recipients to work about 5 fewer hours per week. This increases the poverty rate by 1.2 percentage points, or 3 million people. Transfer programs also contribute to the break up of the family.
Public assistance provides unhappy couples the means to establish separate households.
Evidence indicates that public assistance is not a major cause of the growth of female-headed families. The percentage of female-headed families grew in the 1970s and 1980s despite a 42 percent drop in the real value of public assistance. One study estimates that public assistance accounted for only 5 percent to 14 percent of the growth of female headed households from 1960 to 1975. It is unrealistic to think that we can eliminate poverty. Poverty, however, is a moving target.