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Prentice Hall PoliticalScience Interactive

Prentice Hall PoliticalScience Interactive. Thomas R. Dye Politics in America Special Topic Chapter 17 The Welfare Debate. Federal Social Welfare Spending. Less than one-third of federal social welfare spending is means-tested spending . Poverty in the United States.

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Prentice Hall PoliticalScience Interactive

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  1. Prentice HallPoliticalScienceInteractive Thomas R. Dye Politics in America Special Topic Chapter 17 The Welfare Debate

  2. Federal Social Welfare Spending Less than one-third of federal social welfare spending is means-tested spending

  3. Poverty in the United States How much poverty exists in the United States? Temporary Poverty Versus Persistent Poverty

  4. Births to Unmarried Women Births to teenage mothers have declined in recent years.

  5. Who are the Poor?

  6. Social Welfare Policy Medicaid Entitlements Social Security Unemployment Compensation Supplemental Security Income Family Assistance Food Stamps Earned Income Credit

  7. Social Welfare Policy Most of America’s social welfare programs began in either the Great Depression of the 1930s or the War on Poverty in the 1960s

  8. Social Welfare Policy • The Great Depression brought a sharp rise in childhood poverty • Congress created Aid to Families with Dependent Children in response

  9. Politics and Welfare Reform • President Clinton made a promise to “end welfare as we know it” • In August 1996, Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, also known as “Welfare Reform” • In 1996, AFDC was replaced with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families

  10. Welfare Reform • The welfare reform of 1994 entailed a devolution of responsibility over welfare benefits to the states through federal block grants • Temporary Assistance to Needy Families gave lump sum allocations to the states for cash welfare payments and allowed states to decide eligibility requirements

  11. Welfare Reform Federal money given to states had “strings” attached • Two-year limit on continuing cash benefits • Five-year lifetime limit • A “family cap” on benefits • Denial of benefits to unwed parents under 18 unless they live with adults and attend school

  12. Is Welfare Reform Working? This program helps welfare recipients find jobs in the wake of reforms

  13. Is Welfare Reform Working? • Only about 2 percent of Americans are on cash welfare, the smallest proportion since the 1970s • For many on welfare, getting a job is very difficult • Disabilities • No work experience • Daycare problems

  14. More Reform? While Democrats are for increasing federal services to the disadvantaged, Republicans desire stricter welfare reform “As far as I’m concerned, they can do what they want with the minimum wage, just as long as they keep their hands off the maximum wage

  15. Liberals Argue for expanded subsidized day care, increases in the minimum wage, spending more on medical care for the poor, and making food stamps more available Conservatives Propose toughening the work requirements for cash welfare assistance and closing welfare loopholes that allow states to continue benefits to persons whose time limit has expired More Reform?

  16. More Reform In January 2001, President George W. Bush established an Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the White House

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