Policy Responses and the Effects on Poverty

Food Coupons

Why??
As stated in previous blog posts there are many reasons as to why people find themselves suffering with poverty; noting that one person's reason may be totally different from the next person's reason. After reading through this week's required readings I was stunned to realize how much damage the welfare reform did to the lives of many poverty stricken individuals. Let me first state that I had no previous knowledge of the requirements needed to apply for TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) before going to the NCCP website. It is my understanding that immediately after the welfare reform bill was passed in 1996, hundreds of thousands of poverty stricken individuals were thrown off the rolls of welfare and forced to find low-paying jobs. During the first few years the initial leavers were thought of as a successful bunch because many had found jobs and there was less dependency on welfare. After the year 2000, many welfare leavers found difficulties in finding jobs and suffered more than they were prior to leaving, or  rather, being forced off of welfare. It is quite interesting to think that a welfare reform bill that was designed to help the poor has, in turn, done more bad than good. For instance, a woman named Angela Jobe was featured in a book titled American Dream by Jason DeParle, which tells of the lives of three women and their children during transition from welfare to work. While on welfare, Ms. Jobe's income was approximately 21k/year. After she found a low-paying job as a nurse's aide and was no longer receiving welfare her income skyrocketed to 25k/year (sarcasm). In a video segment, Angela Jobe was asked if she was more in debt now (after welfare) than she was before (on welfare) and she replied 'yes'. That simple 'yes' spoke volumes to me because I can imagine that, although making 4k more per year, her overhead has probably increased too. The goal of welfare reform was to reduce dependency and lift people out of poverty, but the opposite has occurred. It seems, to me, that if there was a genuine concern to lift our neighbors out of poverty the government would focus more on individual needs of the people rather than the general consensus that welfare dependency should be reduced. I think we could all agree that welfare is abused by some, but I think we could also agree that it's helped millions of people during hardships.
What is being done??
The welfare reform replaced old forms of welfare with TANF. The goals of TANF are to assist needy families, reduce dependency (by promoting job preparation, work, marriage), reduce out of wedlock pregnancies, and encourage two parent households. The first few years after the welfare reform law was in place the results seemed promising, but as the early 2000s came and went the results were far less promising than originally thought. Besides TANF, the EITC (earned income tax credit) is also in place and seems to be more beneficial to needy families than TANF. Food stamps are also a way for the federal government to subsidize needy families.
What should be done??
Although a portion of this section is addressed in the why, I will further address the issue here. After reading through former president Bill Clinton's proposals for the welfare reform law, I think his bill would have done a much better job at successfully pulling people out of poverty as well as KEEPING them there. His proposal definitely catered to the fact that everybody's situation is different and not everyone is going to be able to get certain things done in a specified amount of time. I would like to see another welfare reform law be passed that will incorporate the customization of welfare-to-work plans so that they better fit the needs of each and every individual.