The passage of the new welfare law and its provisions for a new program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), continues a thirty-year tradition of attempting to replace welfare with work. Within the context of increased flexibility for states to administer welfare programs, TANF includes a goal of in-ceasing work efforts by welfare recipients and imposes new work requirements on both recipients and states. These work requirements are expected to apply to 70% of all adults receiving welfare by 2002. This article analyzes the work requirements imposed on both recipients and states by TANF and evaluates the states' capacity to serve increasing numbers of welfare recipients. The options available to states are outlined and their feasibility is reviewed in light of experience under prior welfare employment programs. The article concludes with an assessment of job availability for welfare recipients and the prospects of employment for alleviating poverty for lesser-skilled women workers.
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