welfare provision therefore has a substantial influence on how market income is distributed in the first place as the oecd notes welfare states that maximise employment and earnings will have a more equal distribution of original income and policies to encourage employment particularly among highrisk groups such as lone parents may be more effective tools for poverty reduction than transfers public transfers may influence not only individuals employment and earnings decisions but also their choice of living arrangement in particular where the income of single parents is supported there may be a greater risk of individuals choosing these living arrangements and therefore being at greater risk of poverty sawhill has argued that there are growing behavioural differences between the welloff and the poor in particular in relation to education marriage and childbearing and that policy should focus on behavioural change in particular increasing the role of conditional cash transfers however most empirical studies on partnership decisions suggest that the tax and benefit system produces small behavioural effects adams and brewer