In 1995 and 1996, Massachusetts and the federal government enacted sweeping changes to their welfare laws. Policymakers reasoned that these changes, by redirecting cash assistance funds to work supports, would help lower-income parents earn the incomes they need to support their families. Following Through on Welfare Reform: How Savings Could Support Lower-Income Working Families looks at the history of program funding for lower-income families, examines whether the new welfare law reduced poverty in Massachusetts, and provides policy options designed to help these families. This report finds that, over the past decade, there was a dramatic cut in cash assistance payments to lower-income families, but no comparable increase in work supports for former welfare recipients. As a result, the economic security of these families has not improved. This report also looks at how the state could recommit funding to helping lower-income earners support their families.