The Detroit News Experts debate whether welfare reform will help or hurt children in the long run. In Kitty's case, entering the job market contributed to her losing custody of her grandson. As the unemployment rate rises or drops, so do the AFDC cases in Michigan.
Some achievements are indisputable.
Gov. John Engler expects a continuing decline in the AFDC statistics. But I think there's a fundamental error in that. You can tell that Michigan's on the right road, he argues, from the nationwide interest in what's going on here. Michigan can do better, argues Robert Rector of Washington's Heritage Foundation. He thinks the state could cut its rolls by far more.