In 1996, Democratic President Bill Clinton and a Republican-led Congress passed The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act [PRWORA], also known as the “Welfare Reform Act.” This bill changed how government-funded welfare operated in the United States. PRWORA reduced the amount of federal spending for low-income families, placed a limit on the number of years a person could receive federal financial assistance, and required recipients to work within two years of receiving benefits. It also included legislation that limited the funding available to unmarried parents under the age of 18, enhanced legal enforcement of child support, and restricted funding for immigrants. Republican supporters believed these provisions would curb the number of out-of-wedlock births.
The bill ignited a decades-long debate about individual responsibility versus social responsibility and the role of the government in directly alleviating poverty. On the one hand, the bill was heralded as an important step toward helping welfare recipients achieve self-reliance and employment. Through this bill, Clinton aimed to “end welfare as we know it” by creating job opportunities that would help stop a cycle of poverty and dependency. Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and his colleagues in Congress pressured Clinton to make the bill even more austere. They argued that reducing welfare funding reinforced core American values of individual responsibility, hard work, independence, and free enterprise.
Critics of the bill argued that it negatively affected the most vulnerable people in society. Several members of Clinton’s administration even resigned as a result of the bill. One of these detractors, Peter Edelman, argued that welfare reform would not solve the problem, but rather drive millions more people into poverty, many of them single mothers and their children. During the debate, Senator Edward Kennedy called the bill “legislative child abuse.” From this perspective, the government was essentially abdicating its responsibility to care for children and impoverished people who are systemically disadvantaged.
The bill was effective for getting people off of welfare at first, in part due to a booming economy in the late 1990s. By 2000, welfare caseloads were at their lowest level in 30 years. However, wages tended to be barely above the poverty line and did not provide long term financial stability. Financial instability was exacerbated by the economic downturn in 2008. In a 2016 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities examining the effects of PRWORA and related policies, research showed several findings: “Employment increases…were modest and faded over time;” “Stable employment…[was] the exception, not the norm;” “Most recipients…never found work even after participation in work programs…;” “The large majority of individuals…remained poor, and some became poorer;” and “Voluntary employment programs can significantly increase employment without the negative impacts of ending basic assistance…”
The government’s role in supporting the poor through direct aid remains an active debate in the U.S. today.
Discussion Questions
1. In this case, who favors the individualistic fundamental moral unit? Who favors the community-oriented fundamental moral unit? Which viewpoint do you find the most compelling and why?
2. Regardless of your own political affiliation, do you think governments or societies have an obligation to care for disadvantaged or lower-income families? Why or why not?
3. Do you think everyone in your home country has equal opportunities to succeed in society? Why or why not? Do you think success is the sole responsibility of the individual or does government have a role to play? Explain your position.
4. How might individuals raised with different notions of the fundamental moral unit respond differently to the Welfare Reform Act?
5. How might awareness of the fundamental moral unit help us to better understand differences between political parties?
Bibliography
From Ballotpedia
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act was passed by Congress in 1996 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton [D] on August 22, 1996. Among its provisions, the law eliminated three prior federal assistance program and replaced them with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families [TANF], a block grant program. Receipt of TANF benefits came with work requirements, and states were granted flexibility in designing their TANF programs. The law also made lawful permanent residents ineligible to receive federal means-tested benefits for five years after being granted permanent residency.[1]
Background
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act was introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Representative John Kasich [R-Ohio] on June 27, 1996. The House passed the bill by a vote of 256-170 on July 18, 1996. The United States Senate passed the bill on July 23, 1996 by a vote of 74-24. The bill was then moved to conference committee; the House agreed to the conference report 328-101, and the Senate agreed 78-21. President Bill Clinton [D] signed the bill into law on August 22, 1996.[1]
Provisions
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act eliminated three prior federal assistance programs and created the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families [TANF] block grant in their place. The block grant was provided to states to administer for the following purposes:[2]
- financial assistance for needy families
- promotion of work and marriage
- prevention of out-of-wedlock pregnancies
- encouragement of two-parent families
States were given flexibility to design their TANF programs, such as eligibility and benefit levels, although they were required to use objective criteria for program design.[2]
The law also established work requirements for receiving TANF benefits:[2]
- unemployed adult recipients were required to participate in community service within two months of receiving benefits
- adult recipients were required to start work within two years after receiving benefits
Parents with children younger than 12 months were exempt from these work requirements, as well as parents with children under six years unable to find childcare.
Under the law, eligibility for Medicaid was no longer linked to the receipt of federal assistance benefits. Medicaid eligibility was instead required to be based on income and available resources.[2]
In order to receive the TANF block grant, states were required to establish a child support enforcement program. Individuals receiving TANF assistance or Medicaid were required to cooperate with such enforcement efforts. Failure to do so would result in a 25 percent reduction in benefits, and states that failed to enforce this measure would see a 5 percent reduction in their block grant.[2]
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act amended the eligibility of children to receive Supplemental Security Income. Under the law, children were required to have a "medically determinable physical or mental impairment, which results in marked and severe functional limitations," and was expected to last at least one year or result in death.[2]
Benefits for immigrants
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act rescinded the eligibility of legal immigrants for food stamp assistance and Supplemental Security Income. States retained the authority to determine the eligibility of legal immigrants for Medicaid, TANF, and the Social Services Block Grant. However, states were prohibited from denying benefits for the following classes of immigrants:[2]
- refugees and asylees
- lawful permanent residents who had worked in the United States for 10 years
- veterans and active military personnel or their spouses and dependent children
Lawful permanent residents entering the country after the effective date of the law were made ineligible for federal means-tested benefits for five years after being granted permanent residency. After they had held such status for five years, they could then apply for benefits.[2]
Children
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act made amendments to foster care rules, child care funding, and child nutrition programs. The law allowed states to use federal dollars to pay for-profit foster care providers and required states to give preference to relatives when deciding foster care placements. The law also consolidated multiple funding sources for child care with the Child Care and Development Block Grant distributed to states. States were required to use 70 percent of these funds for families receiving or transitioning off of TANF benefits. Finally, federal reimbursements under the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which provided meals in high-poverty areas, were converted to a two-tier system: funding levels would be maintained for family or group day care homes in neighborhoods where 50 percent of children lived in households earning incomes below 185 percent of the federal poverty level. All other family or group day care homes would receive reduced meal reimbursements.[2]
See also
External links
- Full text of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Congress.gov, "H.R.3734 - Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996," accessed March 16, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 FindLaw, "Major Provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996," accessed March 16, 2017
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