HISTORY OF US WELFARE SYSTEM

Early History

The history of welfare in the U.S. started long before the government welfare
programs we know were created. In the early days of the United States, the colonies
imported the British Poor Laws. These laws made a distinction between those who
were unable to work due to their age or physical health and those who were able-
bodied but unemployed. The former group was assisted with cash or alternative
forms of help from the government. The latter group was given public service
employment in workhouses.

Throughout the 1800's welfare history continued when there were attempts to reform
how the government dealt with the poor. Some changes tried to help the poor move
to work rather than continuing to need assistance. Social casework, consisting of
caseworkers visiting the poor and training them in morals and a work ethic was
advocated by reformers in the 1880s and 1890s.

Prior to the Great Depression, the United States Congress supported various
programs to assist the poor. One of these, a Civil War Pension Program was passed
in 1862 and provided aid to Civil War Veterans and their families.

When the Great Depression hit, many families suffered. It is estimated that one-
fourth of the labor force was unemployed during the worst part of the depression.
With many families suffering financial difficulties, the government stepped in to solve
the problem and that is where the history of welfare as we know it really began.

Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Social Security Act was enacted in 1935.
The act, which was amended in 1939, established a number of programs designed to
provide aid to various segments of the population. Unemployment compensation and
AFDC (originally Aid to Dependent Children) are two of the programs that still exist
today.

A number of government agencies were created to oversee the welfare programs.

Some of the agencies that deal with welfare in the United States are the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), the Department of Labor, the Department of Agriculture, and
the Department of Education.

1990: Head Start State Collaboration

The Head Start State Collaboration Offices were first funded in 1990 as a pilot project
much like the Head Start program that started as an experiment in 1965. At first, 12
states were funded. The purpose was to create significant, statewide partnerships
between Head Start and the states in order to meet the increasingly complex,
intertwined, and difficult challenges of improving services for economically
disadvantaged children and their families. Funding for ten more states followed two
years later. By 1997, all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico had
Collaboration Offices. In 2008, the American Indian/Alaska Native and the Migrant
and Seasonal Head Start programs established Collaboration Offices.

Welfare history continued to be made in 1996 President Bill Clinton signed the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. Under the act, the
federal government gives annual lump sums to the states to use to assist the poor. In
turn the states must adhere to certain criteria to ensure that those receiving aid are
 HISTORY OF US WELFARE SYSTEM

being encouraged to move from welfare to work. Though some have criticized the
program, many acknowledge it has been successful.

Those who seek welfare information can find such information on the Internet or by
looking under United States Government in their local phone book. Programs are
available to those who qualify to provide welfare help in the areas of health, housing,
tax relief, and cash assistance.

ADDITIONAL:

For two years, Ashley Murphy was raising two children while making $9 an hour at a
retail job and receiving welfare. Murphy said it was not possible to support a family
on that income. She quit her job to enter a career-training program, hoping to get off
welfare. “I feel like they kind of look down on you in a way,” she said. Her story is not
uncommon among welfare recipients, who have come into the spotlight as states try
to regain control of how welfare money can be spent. Often, the resources available
to people on welfare are not adequate, with few training programs or jobs available to
help them gain a steady income.

 Welfare began in its current form in 1935 under President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt’s Social Security Act, the aid to dependent children program to help
subsidize families that had lost an income-producing father.
 In the late 1970s, then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan criticized the
program as “a poverty trap, a creator and reinforcer of dependency.”
 In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed a law aimed at bringing welfare recipients
into the workforce. Clinton said the law would “end welfare as we have come to
know it.”

The initiative helped lower the number of families on welfare; 20 years ago, 12 million
families used the program, and today that number has dropped to 3.5 million. But
now, federal investment in welfare programs like job training has decreased, making
it difficult for people on welfare to find alternatives, said Neil Sullivan, who works in
job placement in Boston. “The result is, welfare recipients languish in the system, and
many others are rejected from the system and left to make it on their own. And, quite
frankly, they don’t,” he said. And with an increasing income gap, it is difficult now to
move from low-paying jobs to higher-paying ones, job counselor Alina Gardner said.

KINDS OF WELFARE:
https://www.thebalance.com/welfare-programs-definition-and-list-3305759

REFERRENCES:
https://www.welfareinfo.org/history/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/daily-videos/why-is-it-so-hard-to-get-off-welfare/