Last Updated: July 2023
The Welfare Rules Database (WRD) is a longitudinal database that tracks state TANF policies. The WRD was created in 1997 by the Urban Institute’s Assessing the New Federalism (ANF) project, and it is currently funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) (both of which are part of the Department of Health and Human Services). Although most of the WRD’s information is currently only updated for 2020, it remains to be the most comprehensive resource currently available for tracking and comparing state-level TANF policies.
The WRD, as outlined by the top bar on the website, is primarily split into four components: Custom Search, Welfare Rules Databook, Policy Tables, and Policy Maps. Advocates may find Policy Tables and Custom Search to be the most convenient tools out of the four due to their relative flexibility and navigability.
The Policy Tables section contains a list of tables organized by policy topic. Some examples of policy topics include asset limits for recipients, family cap policies, vehicle exemptions for recipients, among others. To access a table, the user can click on one of the years listed under the heading. The links will redirect to the user to a publicly shared online Excel sheet containing data from that given year. Each spreadsheet lays out the policies present in each state as it relates to the given policy topic.
The policy tables are most convenient for accessing state policy information on a specific topic. However, policy tables are not necessarily constructed for each topic—other variables could be potentially found through Custom Search (explained below).
Policy topics that do not appear in the Policy Tables section could potentially be found through Custom Search. Custom Search allows the user to generate a custom table according to the user’s designations. In Custom Search, users first must select a given policy category (e.g. activities exemptions, child support, time limits, income eligibility tests, and many more) from a drop-down menu before selecting one or more variables listed within that category. Users can also customize which states or years they would like the generated table to display.
However, the long list of categories, in addition to the confusing variable names, make it somewhat difficult to navigate Custom Search. Utilizing the Data Dictionary linked on the page is the best starting point, as it allows the user to search for categories and variables by word or phrase.
The Welfare Rules Databook is a document that records state TANF policies as of July of every year, and is available in two versions—without text and with text.
The “without text” version is essentially a consolidated form of Policy Tables. It is a large spreadsheet document that contains every policy table from that given year, with a table of contents as the first sheet.
The “with text” version is an approximately 300-to-350-page report split into two sections. The first section contains introductory information outlining eligibility requirements, benefits, and activity requirements. The second section, similar to the “without text” version, is simply the complete list of policy tables laid out consecutively.
Although the Welfare Rules Databook is an in-depth document, accessing the Policy Tables directly would be the more practical option most of the time—there are not any additional tables available in the Welfare Rules Databook that is not available through the Policy Tables section of the website.
The Appendix Tables contain information that can be useful. For example, in the 2020 version, there is a list of policy changes between 2019 and 2020.
The Policy Maps section contains links that redirect the user to published reports by the Urban Institute. Those reports provide graphical overviews of state TANF policies every year, which include various graphs and visual diagrams. For example, the report contains a bar chart that ranked states based on their maximum monthly TANF benefits, as well as a color-coded map that represents different state policies surrounding sanctions for non-compliance with work requirements. These reports are useful for gaining a basic overview of different state TANF policies.
Other Helpful Links:
The User’s Guide on the website provides additional guidance around navigating the Data Dictionary and Custom Search (which it refers to as “Query the Database”, but please note that such a title is simply an outdated name for Custom Search). The Coding Manual provides additional information on the design of the database and the different types of tables available.
Finally, advocates can reach out to CBPP staff for further guidance on navigating and utilizing the WRD effectively.