By dividing poor families into groups based on the reasons for their poverty, a system of income support can be developed that is both effective in reducing poverty and compatible with basic American values about personal responsibility and work. Social values dictate that individuals must take responsibility for their situations and that all able-bodied individuals should work for a living. A new social welfare system should encompass the following propositions: (1) people who are already doing as much work as society deems acceptable ought to be able to support their families at or above the poverty level without relying on welfare or welfare-like supports; (2) people who are poor and are not working as much as society would hope ought to be offered short-term transitional assistance that includes short-term cash income coupled with services designed to help them become self-supporting; (3) long-term maintenance for people not working as much as society would hope ought to be provided for in the form of jobs and work, not in the form of cash welfare of indefinite duration; and (4) absent parents ought to be required to share any income that they have with their children. The situations of two-parent working poor families, female-headed families, and ghetto families are discussed in detail. Statistical data are included on three tables and two graphs. (FMW)