Does the Welfare System Work?
to aid in their support. Despite the efforts of these city governments and private sectors, they were unable to keep up with the expanding needs of the impoverished. When the Social Security Act came into effect (in August, 1935), it included a provision for welfare to assist the enormous number of single mothers. When Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992, he promised to “end welfare as we know it.” The reform that he later signed returned the majority of its control back over to the states. This has made for inconsistent implementation, none of which ‘work’. The purpose of the welfare system was (and is) to assist single parent families by providing minimal support for a limited period of time. Since the states have control over the amount these families receive, each states varies and none of them pay sufficiently to survive, even for a short period of time. In Arizona, the maximum that a mother with one child could receive in 1988 was $275.00 per month. With this amount they were
