IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v686y2019i1p286-309.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program: Time for Improvements

Author

Listed:
  • Ron Haskins
  • Matt Weidinger

Abstract

The 1996 welfare reforms imposed major changes on the nation’s means-tested benefits, including a requirement that states place at least half of their cash welfare caseload in work or related activities. Congress also increased both cash and in-kind subsidies for low-income working families. Between the mid-1990s and 2000, work and wages among low-income women increased and poverty declined. The recessions of 2001 and 2007–2009 caused rising employment to falter, but after 2014, women’s employment rose again, and poverty declined. The impacts of welfare reform on these outcomes have been disputed, with many on the Left charging that states have used welfare funds inappropriately and many on the Right arguing that welfare reform played a major role in the improvements in work, wages, and poverty. We review reforms that have been proposed by one or both parties in recent years, including focusing spending on benefits and work. We conclude with lessons of these reform experiences for future reforms of entitlement programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Ron Haskins & Matt Weidinger, 2019. "The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program: Time for Improvements," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 686(1), pages 286-309, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:686:y:2019:i:1:p:286-309
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716219881628
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716219881628
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0002716219881628?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:686:y:2019:i:1:p:286-309. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.