The Welfare Reform Act of 1996

Changes Since 1996

When Was it Passed?

Before It Was Passed

• Since the introduction of the Welfare Reform Act in 1996, many changes have been made.
• In 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared that the existing TANF rules no longer had to be followed by the states.
• The HHS loosened requirements for TANF, therefore making it easier to get money without working.

• The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 (also known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act) was signed into legislation by Bill Clinton on August 22, 1996.

• Before the Welfare Act of 1996 was passed, a program known as the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was in place.
• The AFDC provided eligible families with monthly payments from the government. These families usually consisted of unemployed single mothers with children.
• The AFDC provided no incentive to look for work, which eventually led to it being replaced in 1996.

Was It Effective?

Citations

• In my opinion, the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 was effective in reducing the amount of people receiving government assistance. It made it easier to get jobs and eventually move out of welfare.
• However, with the recent changes made to the TANF legislation in 2012, I don't think it will be as effective as it was when first introduced.

• "Making Welfare a Transistion to Work." ASPE. N.p., 28 Jan. 2004. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. <http://aspe.hhs.gov/>
• Primus, Wendell. "What Next for Welfare Reform?: A Vision for Assisting Families." The Brookings Institution. The Brookings Institution, 01 June 2001. Web. 23 Jan. 2015. <http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2001/06/summer-welfare-primus>
• Rector, Robert. "An Overview of Obama's End Run on Welfare Reform." The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, 20 Sept. 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2015. <http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/09/an-overview-of-obama-s-end-run-on-welfare-reform>
• Oliphant, Lisa. "Four Years of Welfare Reform A Progress Report." Policy Analysis 378 (2000): n. pag. 22 Aug. 2000. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.

• Tanner, Michael, and Tad DeHaven. "TANF and Federal Welfare." Downsizing the Federal Government. Cato Institute, Sept. 2010. Web. 22 Jan. 2015. <http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/hhs/welfare-spending>
• Page, Stephen, and Mary Larner. "Introduction to the AFDC Program." The Future of Children. Princeton, 1997. Web. 22 Jan. 2015. <http://futureofchildren.org/>
• Cravens, Hamilton. "Welfare Reform Act (1996)." Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2015. <http://www.faqs.org/childhood/Th-W/Welfare-Reform-Act-1996.html>
• Gais, Thomas. "Welfare, Information, and the New Federalism." Harvard Family Research Project. Harvard, 1998. Web. 23 Jan. 2015. <http://www.hfrp.org/evaluation/the-evaluation-exchange/issue-archive/evaluation-in-the-21st-century/welfare-information-and-the-new-federalism>

The Welfare Reform Act of 1996

Issues With Federalism

Why Was It Passed?

• The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 made it so that states could have a large say in how their individual welfare systems worked.
• The Federal Government provided states with block grants so that they could carry out their welfare systems.
• However, states could be penalized for not meeting requirements placed by the federal government. For example, if states were unable to employ 50% of their welfare recipients, they could receive less money from the federal government for their welfare programs.

• The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 was passed as an attempt to lessen the dependence of people on the federal government.
• Its main goal was to help families get off of welfare by providing them with stable jobs.
• The previous welfare system, the AFDC, did not encourage people to work, the new act did.

by Lucie Price

What Did It Do?

The Opinions of the Three Major Think Tanks

• The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 replaced the AFDC with TANF, made access to childcare easier, and aimed to create more job opportunities for recipients of welfare.

Conservatives

Liberals

Libertarians

• Libertarians believed that the Welfare Reform Act needed to be restructured in order to be effective.
• They felt that the act did not provide enough incentive for people to try and look for work, thus encouraging continued dependence on welfare.

• Conservatives agree with Liberals on the fact that the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 dramatically reduced those dependent on government aid.
• However, many conservative were upset by the federal government's unclear definition of "work." The Conservatives felt that the definition of work should have been expanded to include school, training, and community service. They believed that in order to be successful, "work" needed to be redefined.

• The majority of liberals believed that the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 had a great effect on society. They think that the requiring of many welfare recipients to work drastically helped reduced welfare caseloads and enabled families to become more financially independent.
• However, liberals feel that although progress concerning welfare recipients was made with the act, the poverty gap is still large and barely moving.

Job Subsidies

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

Child Care

• The Welfare Reform Act made childcare much more affordable.
• Over a period of 6 years, $14 billion was provided to fund childcare so that unemployed parents could go to work.

• Under TANF, different sized block grants were given to the states by the federal government depending on the amount of benefits each state had given during the AFDC legislation.
• Each state had a lot of freedom in how they set up their TANF program. There was a maximum of 5 years of government assistance per family; however, some states made their maximum lower.
• TANF also stated that recipients of government aid were required to find jobs within 2 years of receiving aid.

• The Welfare Reform Act encouraged states to take money used for welfare checks, and instead use that money to provide potential employers with subsidies to encourage the hiring of more workers.
• The government hoped that giving subsidies to employers would allow for the opening of more jobs, which would lead to people being able to leave welfare.
• Monetary rewards were given to states that were able to move large amounts of people on welfare into stable jobs.

Controversy

Opposing Views

• Supporters of the Welfare Reform Act argued that focusing on providing jobs for families in need would help them leave welfare.
• People that opposed the plan argued that the jobs being provided wouldn't pay enough for families to ever become completely independent of welfare.

• The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 was supported by many; however, it did cause some slight controversy regarding immigrants.
• Many were upset at the fact that the Welfare Reform Act included welfare eligibility restrictions on legal immigrants in the United States.
• Most immigrants were unable to receive welfare from the government if they had moved to the US within the past 5 years, and restrictions in the act made it harder for immigrants to obtain welfare.
• Many people felt that the legislation regarding immigrants' eligibility for welfare was unnecessary to the Welfare Reform Act and that it never would have passed if proposed on its own.