Please read Dr. Reichman’s article in the Journal of Marriage and Family titled, “Effects of welfare reform on maternal engagement and involvement with young adolescents.“
The 1996 welfare reform legislation, known officially as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) and often referred to as welfare reform, marked a significant shift in US social policy by replacing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The legislation aimed to reduce dependence on government assistance, promote self-sufficiency among low-income families, and “break the cycle” of intergenerational poverty. PRWORA imposed stringent work requirements, mandated time limits on cash assistance (capping benefits at 5 years over a lifetime) and devolved administrative and decision-making control to states through block grants. The legislation also increased sanctions for non-compliance with work requirements and emphasized reducing poverty by increasing marriage and decreasing non-marital and teenage births.
Although welfare reform is often dated to the PRWORA legislation, reforms began in the early 1990s, when the Clinton administration expanded the use of “welfare waivers” to allow states to make experimental changes to their AFDC programs. Many features of PRWORA, such as work requirements and time limits, were integral to these earlier programs. Although not federally mandated, waivers were implemented in most states by the 1996 enactment of the federal PRWORA legislation. Specifically, major statewide waivers—defined in a 1997 report by the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) as those that substantially altered the nature of AFDC regarding work requirements and incentives, time limits, and family caps—were introduced in 29 states over 53 months, and TANF was implemented in all states over 17 months. Considering both waivers and TANF, states reformed their welfare programs over a 64-month period, from October 1992 through January 1998. To read the full article.
Effects of welfare reform on maternal engagement and involvement with young adolescents. Corman, H., Dave, D. M., Kalil, A., Schwartz-Soicher, O., Reichman, N. E. Journal of Marriage and Family, 2025 1–23. DOI: 1111/jomf.13076