The Welfare Reform Act, which is also known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, is created to: "assist needy families, fight welfare dependency by promoting work and marriage, reduce nonmarital births, and encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families" (Sawhill et al, 2001).

This marks a return to old beliefs about parenting and marriage, and consequently punishes low-income people, especially single Women of Color who are on welfare, for having children while being unmarried.

The Act also provides tens of millions of dollars to abstinence-only sex education programs.