Research Paper - Welfare

Adeelah Salaam

Professor Scales

Economics-201/Research Paper

20 July, 2008

Welfare (TANF): Its purpose, how it works, and the recent reforms There is a very important question within our society. Can a single mother of three, working a full time minimum wage job, afford to pay for food, clothing, transportation, childcare, occupational training and medical care? Without government aid, the obvious answer is no. This is where Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) can step in and lend a helping hand. TANF however, is not designed to give free aid such as the Welfare we knew before 1996. The 61-year American tradition of guaranteeing cash assistance to the poor unconditionally came to an end with the signing of legislation in August 1996. According to Janice Peterson, a Senior Analyst at the US General Accounting office in Washington, “the welfare "reform" of the Clinton era consisted of two major elements: a revolutionary change in the basic goals set by the federal government; and a dramatic "devolution" of responsibility – turning what used to be a federal, centralized system over to the states” (Peterson). The U.S. Department of Health and Social Services reports that TANF is now designed to help needy families achieve self-sufficiency. The purposes of the TANF program is to assist needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes, reduce the dependency of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work and marriage, prevent out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families (About TANF).

TANF works through State block grants provided from the federal government. The grants are designed so that the States can operate under their own programs, yet the programs must work toward accomplishing the purposes of TANF.  States can use TANF dollars in ways designed to meet any of the four purposes set out in federal law, which are to: “(1) provide assistance to needy families so that...