Many welfare systems have previously penalized individuals who do attempt to work. The programs in this study provided incentives to those who worked, thus allowing individuals to move out of poverty more quickly. The researchers were not simply interested in the impact of these programs on the reduction of poverty, but also on the indirect impact on child outcomes with respect to behavior problems and school performance. The usefulness of this study can predominantly be found in its ability to provide support for future work-incentive programs aimed at helping to ameliorate the impact of poverty child outcomes. b. How is it important?

Child behavior problems and school performance can have lifelong implications with respect to later quality of life. Research that examines potential predictors of child outcomes can help to shed light on useful interventions, which may help to prevent the negative consequences of poverty. This research can be applied to help policy makers make decisions concerning future welfare programs that may have the best...

Does the article raise questions about future studies -- are there gaps, if any, in the study?
In terms of limitations, the study did use two separate samples with slightly different questionnaires. The MFIP sample did not collect teacher reports, and the study did not collect survey data at the time that the participants were first randomly assigned to a particular group. As such, it is difficult to determine directionality of effects. A longitudinal design would allow for greater insight into causality and this could potentially be a future area of study for these researchers. Researchers also suggest the use of more experimental interventions in future research and further investigation into the links between cumulative risk factors and teacher reported outcomes.