I had evidence on my side: Two of the first states to eliminate asset tests (Ohio and Virginia) actually saw declines in program enrollment and improvements in their overall bottom line. It turns out that states saved resources when caseworkers were not spending time verifying the assets of each applicant. In the end though, legislators could not be swayed from imagined scenarios of a system under siege.

After my experience in Arkansas, I wanted to determine whether this claim was warranted. In a recently published article, my co-authors and I looked at five states (Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, and Maryland) that had either eliminated or increased their asset limit to $10,000 or greater during the height of the Great Recession. These states arguably had the greatest chance of seeing increased applications amid record unemployment across the class spectrum. Examining caseloads in the two years before and after the rule change in each state, we discovered no associated increase or decrease in welfare enrollment. This means that caseload trajectories appear to be unaffected by asset allowances. It also means that fears of widespread abuse are most likely unfounded.

These findings are important, because while the structure of welfare has changed over time, the trap presented by asset limits has remained relatively unchanged—to the detriment of many American families who face short-term financial challenges like loss of a job or incapacitation of a loved one.

The most significant of these changes, President Clinton’s welfare reform act reflected a compromise with the growing conservative movement and returned the power to set asset limits to the states in 1996, but did nothing to alleviate their draconian reach. Touted as an attempt to “end welfare as we know it,” this legislation renamed the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and introduced further restrictions, including five-year lifetime limits and stringent work requirements.

The language of this “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act” was not window dressing—it reflected new expectations that families build their own financial safety nets and leaves recipients with an impossible decision between remaining eligible for necessary aid in the short term and pursuing long-term savings, which are vulnerable to even minor setbacks such as an unexpected car repair or a trip to the emergency room.

After 1996, policy advocates and analysts began encouraging states to increase asset limits and allow families to meet expectations of self-sufficiency. Still, many states have yet to increase limits above 1980s levels. In those that did (most notably Nebraska at $6,000 and North Dakota at $8,000), researchers discovered increased savings among all low-income families, not just welfare recipients.