This fourth annual report addresses the extent to which U.S. families depend on income from welfare programs, providing updated data on measures of welfare recipiency, dependency, and predictors of welfare dependence developed for previous reports. It highlights benefits under Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), now Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); the Food Stamp Program; and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The report uses data from the Current Population Survey and administrative data to provide updated measures through 1998 for several dependency indicators. Other measures are based on the Survey of Income and Program Participation and other data sources. Results indicate: in 1998, 3.8 percent of the total population was dependent (a drop from 5.8 percent in 1993); the drop in dependency paralleled the drop in AFDC/TANF and food stamp caseloads; long-term dependency was relatively rare; and as the dependency rate fell, the poverty rate for all people also fell. Four appendixes present: data on AFDC, TANF, the Food Stamp Program, and SSI; an alternative definition of dependence based on income from AFDC/TANF and food stamps; additional non-marital birth data; and sources of data. (SM)