Author Description

This volume provides an overview of how US government programmes actually work, offering information on the nation's nine largest 'means-tested' programmes - that is, those in which some test of income forms the basis for participation. For each programme, contributors describe origins and goals, summarise policy histories and current rules, and discuss the recipient's characteristics as well as the different types of benefits they receive. Each chapter then provides an overview of scholarly research on each programme, bringing together the results of the field's most rigorous statistical examinations.