An era of dramatic increases in spending to reduce child poverty in the United States is about to come to a sudden halt, a former Republican congressman and senior White House welfare policy adviser told Utah advocates Wednesday.

The "revolution" in social policy that created markedly better conditions for poor American children — "this golden age for children" — is ending, said Ron Haskins, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "A day of Armageddon is coming for these and other welfare programs, so advocates, keep your swords well-sharpened."

Haskins, who knows firsthand about the growth in programs and a previous round of cuts in the mid-1990s, said any social welfare program "whose only budget modification has been unprecedented growth" will be cut.

That doesn't mean poverty is meant to increase or that gains made have to be lost, Haskins told advocates gathered for the Voices for Utah Children annual awards luncheon in Salt Lake City. "Progress against poverty is still possible, just more difficult."

Using data and research regarding welfare recipients conducted by the Brookings Institution, Haskins outlined ways he believes poverty can be reduced by continuing what he considers to be proven and successful approaches: encouraging people to do the right thing, such as get married; and rewarding rather than restricting their efforts to get and keep a job.

Without increasing the federal deficit, Congress could make work requirements included in the welfare reforms of 1996 routine in all large-scale welfare programs, such as those for food stamps and housing. Rather than allowing able-bodied adults to receive benefits without making a reciprocal commitment to increase personal responsibility, federal and state policy should require serious effort to work, he said.

Work requirements to obtain assistance now are modest, he said.

Haskins said most poor and low-income workers are able to get jobs paying about $8 per hour. Lack of education and bottom-rung wages, as well as the great many children being born to female-headed households — which institution and federal research shows are four to five times more likely to be impoverished — have a ripple effect, creating problems that drastically reduce the well-being of families and society, he said.

Progress can be made, and some successes so far can even be called a triumph, Haskins said. "It would be better for everyone if Congress ended earmarks, agriculture subsidies and ineffective programs such as Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act and used the money saved to increase support for low-income working families."

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