Welfare System Before the Recession Two Different Views

The Welfare System Hasn’t Been Effective The welfare system in the United States began when the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (AFDC) (Rector par.2), the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program and the Emergency Assistance (EA) program with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF) (Office par. 1). The highlights of TANF are that recipients are required to participate in work activities such as unsubsidized or subsidized employment, on-the-job training, work experience, and community service for so many hours a week in order to receive benefits and that a person can only receive federal aid for a total of five years in his or her adult lifetime (Office). The three goals of TANF were “(1) to reduce welfare dependence and increase employment; (2) to reduce child poverty; and (3) to reduce illegitimacy and strengthen marriage” (Rector par. 2). Sidonie Squire, the director of the Department of Health and Human Resources, says the number of families on welfare (caseloads) has decreased from 4.41 million families in August 1996 to 1.76 million families in September 2006. 1.6 million fewer children were living in poverty in 2005 than in 1996 (Squire), and the illegitimacy rate only rose one-fourth as fast from 1996 to 2003 as it did before welfare reform (Rector par.38). However, the welfare system hasn’t been effective. Although the number of families on welfare has decreased significantly since PRWORA was passed, the economy deserves credit for the decrease. From August 1996 to June 2000 the number of families on welfare decreased from 4.41 million families (Squire) to 2.2 million families (Rector & Fagan par.26), a decrease of 2.31 million families in almost four years. Over the next six plus years though, the number only dropped .54 million, because “the national TANF decline has slowed appreciably during and after the

Cited: “Office of Family Assistance Mission Statement.” October 2006. 16 Feb. 2008 http://www.acf.hhs.gov. Rector, Robert. “The Impact of Welfare Reform.” 19 July 2006. 16 Feb. 2008 http://www.heritage.org. Squier, Sidonie. “Changes In Programs Assisting Low-Income Families.” FDCH Congressional Testimony 6 March 2007. MasterFILE Premier. Sinclair Community college Library, Dayton, Ohio. 16 Feb. 2008 http://sinclair.ohionet.org.