Welfare reform was progress, but states must step up
by Angela Rachidi
This week marks the 20th anniversary of welfare reform. Welfare reform broadly refers to the bipartisan Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996. Among other things, it eliminated the cash welfare program Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and replaced it with a block grant program that gave states flexibility to use federal funds to move people from welfare to work.
When President Bill Clinton announced his decision to support the House-proposed welfare reform bill in August 1996, he said:
Today the Congress will vote on legislation that gives us a chance to live up to that promise, to transform a broken system that traps too many people in a cycle of dependence to one that emphasizes work and independence, to give people on welfare a chance to draw a paycheck, not a welfare check. It gives us a better chance to give those on welfare what we want for all families in America, the opportunity to succeed at home and at work.
For the vast majority of single-mother families, welfare reform achieved what President Clinton wanted. A new report from the House Committee on Ways and Means shows the shift toward work-based income after welfare reform and how it reduced poverty for children.
The shift towards earnings and away from welfare benefited most children in single-mother families. A recent study by the Center on Budget and Policies Priorities found that income increased for the top 90% of single-mother families from 1995 to 2005. Only those in the bottom tenth of the income distribution experienced an income decline during this time.
But while progress was made, it was not enough. President Clinton also said that day:
This bill must also not let anyone off the hook. The states asked for this responsibility; now they have to shoulder it and not run away from it. We have to make sure that in the coming years, reform and change actually result in moving people from welfare to work. The business community must provide greater private-sector jobs that people on welfare need to build good lives and strong families.
Unfortunately, as President Clinton cautioned against, some states have abandoned their responsibility to provide support to poor families and help them get jobs. Data from the Administration for Children and Families, show a handful of states that spend less than 25% of their TANF block grant on cash assistance to poor families and related work programs. Many states still spend the bulk of their money on these core services, but enough states don’t that it tarnishes the entire program.
As welfare reform turns 20, it is useful to review its history and what it has accomplished. It’s equally useful to take a look at how it was implemented, and hold states accountable for what policymakers in 1996 fought so hard for.
First published at AEIdeas on August 23, 2016.
