Welfare

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)—commonly referred to as “welfare”—provides monthly cash benefits to very poor families. One of the main goals of TANF is to transition adult recipients to employment, but those who exit welfare typically earn poverty-level wages—that is, less than $9 or $10 an hour.

The federal government sets the program’s basic rules, but states set income eligibility limits and benefit levels. More than a third of the states have income limits of less than half the federal poverty level. Although benefit levels vary considerably, a single-parent family of three typically receives only a couple hundred dollars a month.

In 1996, welfare reform dramatically altered the rules for receiving assistance. Since then, caseloads have been cut by two-thirds. Only a quarter of poor children—about 3.3 million—benefit from TANF, even though the number of children living in poverty has increased by more than 15 percent since 2000. More children benefit from Social Security than from TANF.

Publications

• Improving Work Supports
  Closing the Financial Gap for Low-Wage Workers and Their Families
  Report, October 2007
• Looking Forward, Looking Back
  Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of Welfare Reform
  Opinion, August 2006
• When Work Doesn’t Pay
  What Every Policymaker Should Know
  Brief, June 2006
• Federal Policies Restrict Immigrant Children’s Access to Key Public Benefits
  Brief, October 2005
• State Policies Can Promote Immigrant Children’s Economic Security
  Brief, October 2005