We (and This Includes You, Democrats) Have Blown a Huge Hole in the Safety Net

[ProSense]

25. A few months ago

Short history: The old welfare system—Aid to Families with Dependent Children, or AFDC, which existed from 1935-1996—needed to be reformed. It did not work hard enough at helping people get jobs and become self-sufficient. There were 14.3 million people receiving it when President Clinton was elected and that’s too many.

In 1996, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) was enacted. Just then, and quite unforeseen, the economy heated up and jobs became plentiful. The welfare rolls plummeted and the number of never-employed single mothers obtaining jobs increased substantially. But even then, because states had no legal obligation to grant benefits, about 2 out of 5 people who left welfare did not obtain jobs, and large numbers were turned away at the front door.

Beginning in 2001, the impressive numbers of single mothers at work began to go down, and now is nearly back to where it was before the 1996 law was passed. But that didn’t mean that the TANF rolls went back up, because states did not extend benefits to those who were losing their jobs. By the time the recession started, the TANF rolls were at 3.9 million.

...I posted this:

From 1994 to 1996, SNAP funding was flat. From 1996 through 2001, Welfare reform resulted in a 30 percent drop in funding.

In 2009, the stimulus increased funding and restored the program to a level equivalent to the pre-1992 trend.

Granted that participation went from 30 million to 46 million from 2008 to now. The stimulus increased the allocation and the benefits.



http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/snapsummary.htm

If the increases had remained at even the level from 1992 to 1993 (on edit: the old system), 3.43 percent, the program would be at about $50 million in 2013.

From 2001 to 2013, participation increased times 2.75. Funding for the program increase about times 4.4 during the same period, driven by the stimulus increase.

From 2008 to 2009, participation increased 18.6 percent and funding increased 42.5 percent.

From 2008 to 2013, participation increased 68.7 percent and funding increased 111 percent.

I'd say the stimulus increased funding to an adequate level. It should have remained at that level and indexed to inflation.