The Paradoxical Era Of Social Reform

The “Paradoxical Era”, named by policy scholar, Bruce Jansson, refers to an era in which many reforms in social welfare were enacted under President Nixon. Nixon was not known as an advocate of social reform and looked at social welfare in retrospect from a social reform standpoint. Jansson notes that the Paradoxical Era was a period of: “conflicting tendencies…a transitional era between the reformist period of the Great Society and the conservative presidency of Ronald Reagan” (Jansson). Nixon proposed a guaranteed income system, which was opposed by Liberal individuals who were in opposition. The goal of the guaranteed income system was to reduce poverty and there were two unsuccessful attempts to enact a guaranteed minimum income in the …show more content…
This is a major reason why these attempts for guaranteed minimum income failed to be enacted. Working poor individuals were most negatively impacted by this system due to low wages and an increase in costs. This further led to a reduced incentive to work. As consumption increased, the environment was becoming more damaged and CEO classes received more of a profit without an improvement in wage share of national income. Therefore, this resulted in an increase in income inequality. In order to offset those effects, taxes would be forced to …show more content…
This act amended the Housing Act of 1937, creating Section 8 housing. It expanded and institutionalized earlier subsidy program created in1965. Tenants had to spend approximately 30 percent of their income for rent, while the rest of the rent was covered by the program. Also, in 1972, Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children, (WIC), was enacted. WIC was formally authorized by an amendment to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 as a 2-year pilot program. In 1975, there were further amendments to the Child Nutrition Act and established WIC as a permanent program. The final policy and program that was an outcome of the guaranteed income policy was the Child Support Reforms of 1975. The Social Security Amendments of 1975 added Title IV-D to the Social Security Act. Earlier amendments to the Social Security Act in 1950 and 1968 that were designed to “encourage” state establishments and then improve child support programs had been largely ineffectual. There was an idea to create the Office of Child Support Enforcement, which would be responsible for a nationwide child support enforcement