This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979-1998 to understand the differences between those who exited the welfare system voluntarily (leavers) and those who stayed (non-leavers), 1990-1996. The purpose of this research was to examine the differences between the groups in their personal and family characteristics, employment status and poverty status. In addition, logistic regression was used to assess significant predictors that affect the probability of exiting from welfare. The overall results show that being married and having been employed longer prior to exit increases the chances of voluntary welfare exit and having more children is a significant barrier to welfare exit irrespective of individuals' marital and employment status. Leavers and non-leavers significantly differed in their poverty status and employment status for each assessment year. (Contains 2 tables.)