Welfare Reform

The welfare reform bill passed in 1996 has resulted in decreased welfare rolls, but not necessarily the numbers of people--particularly children--living in poverty. In 2002, new legislation proposes to implement further changes. Can welfare be structured so that it helps lift people out of poverty, not just get them off the welfare rolls? Poor people need more education and training so that they can get jobs that pay a decent wage, not poverty wages. "They need subsidized childcare, so they know their kids are safe while they're off at work. On June 26, the Senate Finance Committee proposed welfare legislation that would support low-income families in their attempts to escape poverty rather than punish them. Now the full Senate will debate welfare and then go into negotiations with the House of Representatives, which has approved a much more punitive approach to welfare." What do you think?
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MCC Resources on Welfare Reform

"MCC U.S. Washington Office seminar to address U.S. policy on domestic poverty." - MCC Press Release, Dec. 19, 2001. The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. Washington Office will hold its annual spring seminar here from April 14 to 16, 2002. This year's topic is "Welfare Reform: Good News for the Poor?"

"MCC Washinton Office Guide to TANF 2002" - (requires PDF reader). Read a summary of the background on welfare reform in the U.S., the Biblical principles that guide our response, and a faith reflection. "Are we willing to share our resources and care for the neediest among us?"

General Articles (click your browser's BACK button to return to this page) (top)

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" The New Needy" - Christianity Today Leadership Journal, Fall 2002. "In today's uncertain economy, the people in need are well dressed, laid off, and struggling with a hefty mortgage. How does a church help?" (02/12)

"New York Says Those on Welfare Are Increasingly Hard to Employ" - NY Times, Nov 29, 02. "More than half of public assistance cases in New York involve individuals who meet the city definition of being capable of only limited work or no work at all." (02/12)

"From Middle Class to the Shelter Door" - NY Times**, Nov 17, 2002. "Some economists say that there may be hundreds of thousands of people whose comfortable lives have unraveled because of the recession and the Sept. 11 attacks."

"Particulars Slow Compromise on Extension of Welfare Law" - NY Times**, Oct 15, 02. "Congress is weighing a three-year extension, with tougher work requirements and more money for child care."

How Poor Is Poor? - Maimi New Times, Sept 26, 02. "The government's method of determining who's poor is so outdated that census experts say the poverty picture is much worse than we think."

"From Welfare to Work, and Then, to What?" - NYTimes, Oct 6, 2002. "The fate of the 740,000 people — mostly women — who left welfare rolls as a result of public policy is a subject of fierce debate."

"Recession Cut Incomes and Swelled Poverty Rolls" - NYTimes, Sept. 24, 02. "The number of poor people in the United States rose last year to 32.9 million, an increase of 1.3 million that pushed up the proportion of Americans living in poverty for the first time in eight years, to 11.7 percent, the Census Bureau reported today. At the same time, it said, the most widely used measure of personal income declined 2.2 percent after adjusting for inflation."

"In Trenches of a War on Unyielding Poverty" - NYTimes, Sept 29, 02. "Ms. Daniels, a single mother of five children, was down to that time at the end of the month when the sun rises and sets on her incessant worry: What will we eat tomorrow? The Danielses are among 32.9 million Americans — 11.7 million of them under 18 — who live in poverty, while untold others teeter on its edge. The gap between rich and poor is growing. The Census Bureau's report showed that the weakening economy had begun to affect large segments of the population, whatever their race, region or class."

"U.S. Poverty Up 1st Time in 8 Years" - WASHINGTON (AP), Sept 24, 2002. "The U.S. poverty rate rose for the first time in eight years and household income fell last year, a double dose of bad economic news that coincided with the first recession in a decade, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. There were 32.9 million Americans living in poverty last year, up from 31.6 million in 2000. The rate of 11.7 percent was up from 11.3 percent the previous year, which was the lowest level since 1974."

"The Well-Being of Single Mothers after Welfare Reform, as Measured by Changes in Food Security" - Joint Center for Poverty Research, V. 4, N. 7. "They find that, although single mothers were much more likely than married mothers to experience food-related problems throughout the study period, both groups experienced improvements over time. The rising tide theory suggests that, even in the absence of welfare reform, the prosperity of the late 1990s would have reduced food-related problems by about the same proportion for both single and married mothers. This implies that welfare reform had no effect, either positive or negative, on single mothers' food-related problems."

"50 Senators Ask Daschle for Debate on Renewing Welfare Law" - New York Times, Sept. 11, 2002. "If Congress takes no action, the government will have no legal authority to make welfare payments to the states after Sept. 30. States have been receiving $16.5 billion a year for the main program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families."

"Welfare Reform Failure" - New York Times, Letter to the Editor, Sept. 18, 2002. "If the goal was to get people off the welfare rolls and save the government money in the short run, then the 1996 welfare reform law was a great success. If the goal was to help our fellow citizens out of poverty and toward lives of greater dignity, then it has failed miserably."

"Side Effect of Welfare Law: The No-Parent Family" - New York Times, July 29, 2002. "A rising share of children are turning up in no-parent households--left with relatives, friends or foster families without either their mother or their father. Researchers say they cannot pinpoint the forces driving parents and children apart. But among them, they said, may be the stresses of the new welfare world--loss of benefits, low-wage jobs at irregular hours and pressure from a new partner needed to pay the rent."

"Bush Criticizes Senate Welfare Bill" - NT Times, July 29, 2002*. "The Senate bill, Bush contended, 'is a retreat from the success'' and 'would hurt the very people we're trying to help'" "Michael Siegel, Democratic spokesman for the Senate Finance Committee, countered that it was a bipartisan bill 'that includes a broad range of views supported by Senate members of the president's own party.'" "Deepak Bhargava, director of the National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support, a coalition of liberal groups, condemned Bush's 'my way or the highway'' stance."

"Self-Sufficiency through Livable Wages" - Thirdway.com, Washington Comment, Feb 25, 2002. “Self-sufficiency is the bottom line,” according to Jeanette Ladd, director of Letcher County Kentucky’s Children and Family Services office. For working families struggling to stay out of poverty, earning enough to live on is the most basic premise of self-sufficiency. Let us do our part to help support this goal.

"Welfare Reform that doesn't punish the poor." - San Francisco Chronicle, July 2, 2002. Welfare is an income-support program designed to help if you've lost your job or are otherwise down on your luck, and you and your children have run through all of your savings and have little money left to pay the rent or feed yourselves.

"Welfare Proposals Bad for Business" - San Francisco Chronicle, July 2, 2002. Why is this proposal bad for business? Employers want to hire welfare recipients who are prepared to go to work and have the skills to stay and succeed on the job. Employers lose money and confidence if they hire someone off the welfare rolls who does not possess the necessary job skills. If the public and nonprofit systems are no longer able to provide welfare recipients with basic education or skills training, employers will cease to tap into this important labor pool.