A Study On The Temporary Assistance For Needy Families In The United States

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is a government assistance program for poor families with minor children in America.It was enacted in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.The program provides cash assistance and a variety of services to recipient families.With the establishment and development of the American welfare system since the 20 th century,its evolution has undergone a complicated process.At same time,it is still in operation today.Its historical origin,establishment background,legislative process,content characteristics and influence are the key contents of this paper,which is divided into three chapters.The first chapter focuses on the historical evolution of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.First of all,the origins of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families can be traced back to the Mothers' Pension in the early 20 th century,a state-level welfare legislation promoted by federal agencies,social organizations and progressives.In 1935,in response to the impact of the Great Depression,the government enacted the Social Security Act,Chapter IV of which introduced Aid to Dependent Children for children under the age of 16 who had lost parental care.In the following 1940 s and1950s,the scope and level of benefits of Aid to Dependent Children gradually expanded,but the scrutiny of the guardians of assisted children became more stringent.In the 1960 s and 1970 s,with the development of the civil rights movement,the scope of assistance for Aid to Dependent Children was extended to unemployed Families with minor Children,and the name was changed to Aid to the Families with Dependent Children(AFDC).During this period,the most obvious change was the attempt by welfare reformers to gradually move from an open-ended income support scheme to one that helped recipients prepare for and find work,formally introducing work incentives.By the early 1980 s and 1990 s,when Aid to the Families with DependentChildren was in crisis,the federal government was pushing families to move from welfare to work,setting stricter standards,trying to maintain family integrity,and giving states the autonomy to create new experiments in reform.In the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act signed into law in 1996,Aid to the Families with Dependent Children was replaced by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.The second chapter combs the background and process of the welfare reform in1996,which involves the establishment of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.The background of the welfare reform in 1996 mainly involved four aspects.First,the rise of the neoliberalism has changed the way people think about welfare and the way the government runs programs.Second,the abuse of Aid to the Families with Dependent Children has been further exposed,including the explosive growth of the number of recipients,the change of the composition of recipient groups,the increase of welfare dependency,and the increase of out-of-wedlock births.Third,huge welfare spending has forced the government to cut its budget,which Clinton has used as a platform.Fourth,the state welfare reform experiment was the innovation source of the federal welfare reform,the state reform has provided the experience and the lesson for the later reform.At the same time,the process of legislative reform embodied the collective wisdom of the various parties.House Republicans proposed H.R.3500 and the subsequent legislation.And Democrats proposed the Work and Responsibility Act.These were useful attempts at welfare reform.The turning point came when Republicans took control of Congress and they introduced and dominated the new welfare reform bill.In August 1996,Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act,the first part of which formally established Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.The third chapter mainly discusses the goal,the content characteristic,the implementation situation and the influence of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.Temporary Assistance for Needy Families was more focused on the objectives of promoting work,reducing out-of-wedlock births and maintaining traditional two-parent families.In terms of content and features,new features haveemerged.First of all,the form of block grant reflected the transfer of power from the federal governments to the state governments in the formulation and implementation of welfare plans,which further increased the flexibility of policy.Second,it set directive and stricter restrictions and requirements,and uses a mechanism of rewards and punishments to regulate the behaviour of the states and recipients to achieve objectives.Third,it set a time limit for receiving benefits,indicating that TANF benefits were no longer a right and that recipients were encouraged to be self-reliant.Fourth,it set up compulsory work requirements supplemented by ancillary services,reflecting the principle and orientation of "Work First".Guided by the principles of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act,the states had specific provisions on the provision of services to recipients of assistance and the imposition of sanctions.Since the TANF was promulgated,the number of cases has been reduced to a large extent,the work participation of the assisted groups has been increased,the out-of-wedlock birth rate has been reduced and poverty among low-income families has been alleviated.However,there are still many groups that have been neglected in the reform process,and their situation has further deteriorated due to inadequate arrangements and assistance.