¶ … Welfare Reform" by Robert Rector and Patrick Fagan (2003) hypothesizes that the reduced poverty and welfare dependence results seen at the beginning of the 21st century were primarily connected to the welfare reform program instigated by President Bill Clinton during the 1990s. The approach the authors use is one that provides a fine balance between the refutation of this hypothesis, as well as a keen acknowledgement of the opposition view to welfare reform when the legislation was first announced. The authors provide irrefutable proof for their views on the basis of statistical data derived from reputable sources, hence reducing the possibility of bias to a very low level.
In the introduction of their work, the authors focus on providing not only their own view, but also that of the opposition to the original welfare reform program as well as that of current opponents who hypothesize that any favorable outcomes are not directly connected to the reform itself, but rather to the financial stability enjoyed by the country at the time of statistical measurement. The expansion of the article then proceeds to logically and statistically provide strength to the authors' arguments.
The authors minimize the probability of bias by carefully considering both the historical and current opposition views: 1) That the welfare reform legislation would result in disaster in terms of poverty and hunger; and 2) that any results to the contrary is connected to the financial stability of the country rather than directly to the reform program.
The authors, however, disprove both of these opposition views by means of historical and statistical fact. Their views are strengthened by the use of legitimate and highly respected sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau and USDA Economic Research Service. They use data from these and other entities to prove irrefutably that no historical period of financial stability can be compared to the results after Clinton's reform bill.
