re: Just sat through an interesting "Lunch and Learn" on the welfare system

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Was it Maine that instituted the volunteer clause and welfare recipients dropped 80%.

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Sort of. What Maine (and now another state... Kentucky, maybe?) did was to set a requirement for work or education in order to receive TANF benefits starting in 2012 (they have to work at least 20 hours a week, participate in a work-training program or meet volunteering requirements) but only for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD's).

How well has that worked? LINK

CY..........TANF Enrollment........Change from previous CY
2007..........13,451........................N/A
2008..........13,890........................3.3%
2009..........14,705........................5.9%
2010..........15,188........................3.3%
2011..........14,510.......................-4.5%
2012..........10,009......................-31.0%
2013...........8,117......................-18.9%
2014...........6,716......................-17.3%
2015...........5,817......................-13.4%
2016...........4,855......................-16.5%
2017...........4,492.......................-7.5%

While these numbers speak for themselves about how much abuse there was as well as how even minor requirements can change use levels, there have been other positive effects as well.

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Over the four-year period after our reforms, people who had prior earnings records saw their wages increase by an average of 237%. This was from the baseline period in the year before the reforms compared to the last three quarters in 2015 and the first quarter of 2016.

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