"Over the last decade, [U.S.] welfare reform has figured prominently in the policy agenda at both the state and the federal levels. One of the most important issues in the policy debate concerns the effect of welfare programs on individual demographic behavior.... In an attempt to clarify some of the issues both for the policy debate and for setting research priorities, the National Research Council organized a Workshop on The Effects of Welfare on the Family and Reproductive Behavior in May 1996, which brought together experts in demographic and family studies, along with researchers and policy makers familiar with income support programs. The chapters in this volume were first presented at that workshop and cover the lessons from available research and the implications for future research." (Excerpt)