In the early 19th century welfare system of the U.S., states required that local governments provide for individuals living in poverty. At the time, local governments used the following strategies to provide assistance to the needy:

• Auctioned them off to be used as workers
• Contracted with wealthier families to care for them
• Placed them in public institutions, known as workhouses
• Provided them with money or goods

The first welfare reforms took place in the 1820s and 1830s. The transfer of goods and services was rapidly replaced by placing individuals in workhouses. The goal was to instill a work ethic in order to improve the overall standard of living of the impoverished.

Social casework was integrated into the welfare approach during the time between the 1880s and the 1900s. Caseworkers would meet with individuals living in poverty to instruct and advise them. The goal was to improve their social function and instill a work ethic.

CS Question #1: What changed in the welfare system beginning in the 1880s?

The Great Depression of the 1930s brought about a huge need for welfare on a federal level. President Roosevelt instituted the New Deal program. The New Deal provided for the Social Security Act of 1935. The act was amended in 1939 to include the program that would be known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). AFDC provided financial assistance to families with one or more children under age 18. To be eligible for funds, the family had to prove that one parent was not present or incapacitated. Families whose primary wage earner was unemployed could also qualify. From 1967 to 1981 the AFDC provided direct cash benefits to families. Payments were reduced by income from working. Thus, reducing the incentive to work at all.

CS Question #2: In what way did AFDC cash benefits discourage its recipients from working?

From the 1930s through the 1980s there were many social agencies working independently of each other. This was not always effective. Under President Reagan, The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1988 was passed. It allowed states to integrate welfare, unemployment compensation and training into one complete system of public-assistance reform. The WIA improved the interaction of the government's labor force investment programs and educational programs. Goals included training, employment improvement and literacy. The programs are intended to meet the needs of businesses and individuals within the labor force. Additionally, AFDC recipients were required to either work or enter a training program to continue receiving benefits.

CS Question #3: What specifically changed about the AFDC as a result of the Workforce Investment Act of 1988?

In 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation (PRWOR) Act of 1996. This comprehensive welfare reform bill that established the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. This replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. TANF offers federal funding in the form of block grants to the states. The state then designs their own welfare program, provided the two federal requirements are met:

1. An individual's cash benefits are limited to 5-years throughout their lifetime. (20% of the impoverished in each state may be exempted from this limit).
2. After two years of cash benefits, every able-bodied adult must either working or in a training program.

PRWOR's goal is to focus on work as a requirement of public assistance. This provides an opportunity for the individual to get off of public assistance and become self-sufficient. To this aim welfare-to-work (w-t-w) laws were created. Welfare-to-work laws added work requirements to welfare eligibility. Welfare-to-work is a federally funded project. It pays state programs to help low-income individuals get jobs. These programs help individuals who suffer specific barriers to entering the labor force. They provide opportunities for full-time work, private-sector jobs, temporary wage subsidies for those not immediately qualified for unsubsidized employment, employment-related services (child care, transportation) until wages can cover these costs, and counseling and mentoring during the transition from welfare-to-work.

CS Question #4: Name some of the changes to welfare that resulted from the PRWOR.

Further Thought:

1. Of various changes and reforms to the U.S. welfare system, what do you think is the most significant? Why?
2. If you could further reform the welfare system, what changes would you make?
3. Is it important to have a welfare system? Why or why not?