Thought Leadership

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act (TANF) is one of the United States’ federal assistance programs. It was set up by President Bill Clinton as part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The program requires that the states develop their own assistance programs that would offer incentives and opportunities for welfare recipients to obtain employment as a means for getting off federally funded welfare. 

For example, the funding was set up in such a way that by 1999, at least one adult from the 90 percent of the two parent families still receiving TANF related assistance would be gainfully employed or engaged in job-assistance training programs

The law also contains provision allowing states to reduce or cut off assistance to a variety of groups. For example, the states can refuse support for teenage parents who do not participate in training or educational programs or who refuse to live in their parent’s home. People convicted of drug-related felonies are not eligible for any federally funded cash or food stamp assistance under the new law; although states can aid their families if they so choose. These and other similar provisions of the 1996 act reflect the goal of ending welfare dependence.

Capping the Costs of Welfare

In funding the TANF program, the Congress limited federal spending to $16.4 billion through fiscal year 2002, thus stopping the open-ended funding of the past. In addition, the law expressly states that the programs funded under TANF are not entitlements, and both eligibility and benefits can be adjusted to stay within spending limits. The law also includes some additional funding provisions for states facing special circumstances, but at a specific level. Individual states can spend as much as they wish on other programs however; they would have to do so without the hope of federal financial assistance. Most analysts agree that without the incentive of receiving help from Washington most states are unlikely to provide a great deal more assistance to the poor. In short, the 1996 act is expected to rein in the growth of spending on welfare at all levels of government.

Other Provisions

The 1996 Act modified the structure of AFDC and other major entitlement programs, yet it did not make radical changes in some other parts of the welfare system. For example, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) was created in 1972 to provide direct monthly benefits from the federal government to the aged, blind, and disabled, regardless of the level of assistance they receive from other programs. A major portion of the program, affecting disabled children (and often used to supplement assistance to poor families), was modified to tighten eligibility requirements.

Another major entitlement program, food stamps, was also left mostly intact. It had begun in 1961 as an experiment, the program slowly expanded until it became the primary source of food assistance for the poor. By 1994 more than 27 million people population were receiving some level of food stamp support. Since eligibility for food stamps was often tied to AFDC and other programs replaced by TANF, some parts of the program were modified. For example, to receive food stamps, able-bodied recipients must fulfill work requirements.