THE WHY AND HOW OF WELFARE REFORM

Abstract

In the 1992 presidential campaign, candidate Bill Clinton vowed to "change welfare as we know it." The Republican Contract With America, given much credit for the Republican takeover of the Congress in 1994, promised massive reform of the welfare system. The welfare rolls had grown dramatically between 1989 and 1994. The average monthly enrollment of families in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program had gone from 3.8 million to 5.1 million. The average monthly participation of individuals in the Food Stamp Program had gone from 18.8 million to 27.5 million. Public confidence in our public assistance programs waned and the American public rallied behind the proposition of welfare reform. At a time of huge federal budget deficits, high unemployment and salaries not keeping pace with inflation, the specter of people getting something for nothing-that is, receiving welfare benefits but not working, resonated very unfavorably with much of the American electorate.