A central tenet of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the primary cash assistance program for families with children, is that TANF should provide temporary support while parents engage in required activities to help them find or prepare for work — the so-called “welfare-to-work” strategy. While employment that pays sufficient wages and provides regular hours can be a path from poverty towards financial stability, most TANF recipients are not on that path, our analysis of studies of parents leaving TANF shows.