This article explores the implications of recent welfare-related policy change for the
well-being of children in low-income families, and for research investigating child development
processes and outcomes. It provides an overview of current welfare-related policies and explores
the implications for developmental researchers. The article also synthesizes early findings from
research, highlighting both overall impacts and the more nuanced evidence that while families are
transitioning off welfare, only a small number are transitioning out of poverty, and a subgroup of
families at risk are not faring well. It then examines, from a theoretical and methodological
framework, what developmental psychopathology might bring to the study of welfare-related
impacts on children in the context of this complex and changing policy landscape, and what
welfare researchers might bring to the field of developmental psychopathology. The article
concludes with broad recommendations for both research and policy.