ED 466 925 AUTHOR TITLE INSTITUTION SPONS AGENCY REPORT NO PUB DATE NOTE AVAILABLE FROM PUB TYPE EDRS PRICE DESCRIPTORS IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT DOCUMENT RESUME CE 083 360 Peterson, Janice Feminist Perspectives on TANF Reauthorization: An Introduction to Key Issues for the Future of Welfare Reform. Briefing Paper. Institute for Women's Policy Research, Washington, DC. Ford Foundation, New York, NY.; Mott (C.S.) Foundation, Flint, MI.; David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Los Altos, CA IWPR-E511 2002-02-00 16p. For full text: http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/e511.htm. Information Analyses (070) Opinion Papers (120) EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. Adults; Educational Needs; *Employed Women; Entry Workers; Federal Legislation; Federal Programs; Females; *Feminism; Higher Education; Job Training; Low Income; Low Income Groups; *Poverty; Program Improvement; Sex Bias; *Sex Discrimination; *Welfare Recipients; *Welfare Reform Reauthorization Legislation; *Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; Time Limited Welfare Current debates about welfare reform center on the upcoming reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) legislation. The provisions of TANF include the elimination of the entitlement to cash assistance, block grant funding to the states, mandatory work requirements, sanctions, a 5-year limit on cash assistance, and "family formation" provisions. Although there has been a documented reduction in welfare case loads since the passage of TANF, data on earnings, income, and poverty are less positive. Research on "welfare leavers," for example, finds that those leaving welfare for employment are typically entering jobs paying below-poverty-level wages and are not receiving employer-provided benefits such as health insurance or paid sick or vacation leave. In preparation for reauthorization legislation, TANF should be changed to help women increase their access to jobs with living wages. A feminist agenda for TANF reauthorization acknowledges the nature of the labor markets poor women enter and the need to reduce gender-biased employment discrimination. It calls for the restructuring of time limits and sanctions to take into account the barriers to employment faced by many poor women and the fact that even those who become employed face hurdles to achieving economic security. A feminist agenda for TANF reauthorization proposes to strengthen the safety net for children, improve childcare provisions, increase educational and training opportunities, and make the legislation more responsive to business cycles, since economic downturns often hit former welfare recipients first. (Contains 59 references.) (KC) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.