The child population of the United States is undergoing a major transformation: one in five children in the United States is an immigrant or lives in an immigrant family, and three-quarters of all immigrant families have at least one child who is a U.S. citizen. Welfare reform's effect on children in immigrant families offers an illustrative case of how U.S. social policy could be examined and potentially altered through the lens of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Use of the Convention to focus on children and reframe welfare legislation could help underscore the nature of children's social claims and help generate a national consensus as to how to address them more effectively. The Convention could provide specific guidance to the medical profession on how to address these challenges.

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welfare reform Child Welfare social policy United States immigrant population