In Edin and Schaefer’s $2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America book, they use the first chapter “Welfare is Dead” to talk about the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. The AFDC was a sixty-year-old program that provided cash assistance to families with children, implemented up until 1996 when it was replaced with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. The program first began in 1935 during the midst of the Great Depression. Back then, people had access to the program just by proving they were in need of economic assistance. There were no time limits imposed, nor requirements for those on AFDC to be working. It was the ideal welfare program for many people, especially single mothers. Furthermore, social security, unemployment insurance, and other programs were created under the AFDC; providing assistance to the elderly, those unable to work, and the blind.
The AFDC saw a lot of growth for the first few decades since it had been implemented. Around the 1930s there were around a hundred thousand cases. About three decades later, there were about 3.6 million cases. Between the 1960s and the 1970s, AFDC saw its greatest volume of caseloads. In 1964 around 4.2 million people used the program. Twelve years later it helped over 11.3 million people. By 1994 …show more content…
I kept thinking of the structural explanation of poverty- which says it isn’t the people who are to blame for living in poverty, but rather the system. The beginning of the chapter talks about a woman named Modonna Harris and her struggles with receiving welfare- even the issues she faced just walking into the door of the Department of Human Services. In the end it explains how she didn’t know the government was still providing welfare. A majority of people do not have access to proper assistance. It was clear in this reading that the system is extremely
The AFDC saw a lot of growth for the first few decades since it had been implemented. Around the 1930s there were around a hundred thousand cases. About three decades later, there were about 3.6 million cases. Between the 1960s and the 1970s, AFDC saw its greatest volume of caseloads. In 1964 around 4.2 million people used the program. Twelve years later it helped over 11.3 million people. By 1994 …show more content…
I kept thinking of the structural explanation of poverty- which says it isn’t the people who are to blame for living in poverty, but rather the system. The beginning of the chapter talks about a woman named Modonna Harris and her struggles with receiving welfare- even the issues she faced just walking into the door of the Department of Human Services. In the end it explains how she didn’t know the government was still providing welfare. A majority of people do not have access to proper assistance. It was clear in this reading that the system is extremely