The Project on Devolution and Urban Change: Client Survey, 4 United States counties, 1998-2001

This study contains data files and documentation for the survey data from all four sites of the Project on Devolution and Urban Change (Urban Change, for short). This study examines the implementation and effects of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in four urban counties: Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Philadelphia, Miami-Dade, and Los Angeles. The study's focal period of the late 1990s through the early 2000s was one of prolonged economic expansion and unprecedented decline in unemployment. The study thus captures the most promising context for welfare reform: one of high labor market demand and ample resources to support families in the process of moving from welfare to work. The included data set is a concatenated version of the longitudinal client survey data used in the following MDRC publications: Welfare Reform in Cleveland: Implementation, Effects, and Experiences of Poor Families and Neighborhoods. (September 2002) Welfare Reform in Philadelphia: Implementation, Effects, and Experiences of Poor Families and Neighborhoods. (September 2003) Welfare Reform in Miami: Implementation, Effects, and Experiences of Poor Families and Neighborhoods. (June 2004) Welfare Reform in Los Angeles: Implementation, Effects, and Experiences of Poor Families and Neighborhoods. (August 2005) The files consist of one SAS data set containing responses to two waves of interviews on education, training, employment, family and household composition, housing, income, material hardship, welfare, health and health care, fertility and childbearing, parenting, child care, domestic violence, substance use, and demographic background. These data are a Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped for release, but not checked or processed.