Title: Welfare Reform: The Need for Social Empathy
Abstract: Welfare today is typically regarded as the cash-assistance program of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which evolved from the 1935 Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) provisions of the Social Security Act. In spite of its very small size, TANF and its predecessor ADC/AFDC have been the focus of welfare reform. The policy discussions and changes regarding cash assistance for the poor are the focus of this discussion on welfare reform. The original design of the ADC program was temporary, as an emergency response to the needs of poor widows and their children in the wake of the Great Depression. It was thought that once the major part of the program, the social insurance provisions that have come to be known as Social Security, had time to take hold, there would no longer be a need for cash assistance to poor women and children. So what happened over the next 60 years? Why, by 1996, were politicians and the public calling for welfare reform to "end the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work and marriage…to enable them to leave the program and become self-sufficient" (P.L. 104-193, sections 401 & 402)? The years from 1935 to 1996, and the more than ten years since the latest experiment in welfare reform, reveal a journey in societal policies and programs that reflect shifting values and beliefs, and now call for a new approach that is truly kinder and gentler, one that reflects social empathy. This chapter reviews the history of welfare in America, and considers a new policy approach to public assistance for poor families that is based on the perspective of social empathy.
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-07-15
Language: en
Type: other
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 7
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot