Welfare Reform: Self-Sufficiency or What?

Abstract

The United States federal government, after fifty years of gradually increasing its involvement, in creating and managing the nation's social safety net through social security, food stamps, work projects, employment training, etc., began to pull back in the 1980s. Then in 1996, it made a very steep retraction of its involvement in creating and managing a social safety net. This change was highlighted by the passing of the Federal "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA).