The 1996 federal welfare reform law ended the entitlements of the previous
welfare program Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and required
welfare recipients to work. A flat amount of financial aid was provided to each
state based on its welfare spending under the repealed program. Because the
new welfare program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), was
limited to 60 months of lifetime benefits, welfare recipients would have to replace
the cash assistance and food stamp benefits with job earnings or help from
other sources.
The Welfare to Work series was funded by the Eugene
and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation and
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz
Foundation.
