What is Welfare Reform?
In 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, commonly known as welfare reform. This law slashed the 60-year-old vital safety net for millions of poor and working families. The new system has altered the administration of welfare in many ways: • It ended the human right to a base minimum needed for survival. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Cash assistance to poor people with poverty-level income is no longer an entitlement; they are now benefits with a work requirement and a five-year time limit.(1) • The federal government devolved the responsibility to administer welfare, such as determining welfare benefits or job training, to state and local governments, charities, and private companies (i.e. Lockheed Martin). The federal government gives states money for welfare through fixed block grants, which binds states from obtaining more federal funding if
