![]() Mainly due to the 90-percent rate, just under half of all states (24) use state dollars to provide assistance to some or all of the two-parent families they assist without having to meet the federal rate. ![]() There is wide agreement that the 90 percent rate is unrealistic and unfair for two-parent families. To count toward the work rate, a two-parent family must work or participate in certain other work-related activities for 35 hours per week, or 55 hours per week if they receive child care. When states provide income assistance, they must ensure that 50 percent of “all families” and 90 percent of two-parent families receiving it are working or engaged in specific work-related activities for a certain number of hours each week. Some states, however, reduce the amount of benefits a family may receive if a parent lives with an unmarried partner or another unrelated adult. In all but four states, if a parent is living with an unmarried partner who is not the father or mother of any children in the unit, the partner is not eligible for TANF assistance, and their income and assets are generally not counted in determining eligibility. If biological parents live together, both their incomes and assets are counted in determining TANF eligibility, whether they are married or not. For example, in six states, after being found eligible, two-parent families are subject to a 30-day waiting period before they can receive any assistance. Other states do not disqualify two-parent families altogether but do impose additional requirements on them that single-parent families are not subject to. Married and unmarried two-parent families (ones that share a biological or adopted child) are generally eligible for TANF assistance, except in three states that only allow two-parent families if one or both of the parents has a disability. To receive TANF income assistance, a family must include at least one minor child and meet other income, asset, and eligibility requirements set by the state in which they live. ![]() The remaining half of program funding is used in diverse ways that are not well documented.Īlthough TANF continues to be referred to as a “welfare” program, only about one-fourth of program funds are spent on providing income assistance to families. About 16 percent of TANF funds are spent on child care, and another roughly 7 percent on work-related activities. The amount of income assistance provided in nearly all states is very low-the median state benefit amount is $428 per month for a family of three.Īlthough TANF continues to be referred to as a “welfare” program, only about one-fourth of program funds are spent on providing income assistance to families. In addition, states must contribute a fixed amount of their own funds each year ($10.4 billion). Under TANF, instead of matching federal funds for income assistance, employment services, and child care for low-income families, states receive fixed block grant funding ($16.5 billion per year) that can be used for a very broad range of benefits and services. In addition, states without an AFDC-UP program as of 1988 were allowed to limit benefits to six months in each 12-month period. To qualify for benefits under AFDC-UP, two-parent families had to meet a work history test that did not apply to one-parent families receiving AFDC. Even so, these reforms did not require states to treat one-parent and two-parent families in an equitable fashion. It wasn’t until the passage of the Family Support Act of 1988 that all states were required to operate an AFDC-UP program-22 states did not do so before the law’s passage. In the early 1960s, states were allowed, but not required, to extend AFDC to children and parents in two-parent families under what became known as the AFDC-Unemployed (AFDC-UP) program. For the first several decades of its existence, AFDC eligibility was effectively limited to children of widows and other single mothers. Under AFDC, states received matching funds from the federal government to provide income assistance, employment services, and child care to very low-income families with children. In this post, after providing some background on AFDC and TANF, I highlight some of the report’s main findings and discuss policy implications. Department of Health and Human Services and authored by analysts at the Urban Institute, provides useful information on the extent to which TANF is helping two-parent families. One of TANF’s main purposes is to increase the stability of two-parent families, but discussion tends to focus almost exclusively on single-parent families. Twenty years ago next month, Congress passed and President Clinton signed controversial legislation to replace Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program.
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