Few studies have investigated the effects of welfare
reform on educational acquisition of adult women even
though the vast majority of mothers on welfare are adults,
education and training activities are common among adults
beyond traditional ages for schooling, and PRWORA deemphasized
education for this group. Previous research
using a quasi-experimental design has found that welfare
reform decreased the probability of both high school
and college enrollment among adult women (see Dave,
Reichman, & Corman, 2008). No previous research has
investigated the effects of welfare reform on vocational
education and training, defined broadly as educational
training that provides practical experience in a particular
occupational field, despite the importance of this type of
education for women likely to be on welfare. In 1995, 23%
of unmarried mothers in the U.S. age 25–54 with less than a
college education participated in non-college work-related
courses (authors’ own calculations from the dataset used
for this study).