In 1933, as part of the New Deal, President Roosevelt created Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC). Essentially, individuals had to qualify for benefits by demonstrating need and by maintaining
minimal assets of their own. (Stephen Ferry, Gamma Liaison Network)grams, which received the least amount of initial
funding compared to the other two, primarily target-
ed single mothers with children. In 1933 as part of the
New Deal, Roosevelt created Aid to Families with De-
pendent Children (AFDC), which was a means-tested
program. In its inception, this program was designed
to be a short-term, transitional solution to the prob-
lems faced by single poor women with children, many
of whom were minorities as well. Small cash benefits
were offered to recipients, although the recipients
were monitored by caseworkers who maintained a
high degree of latitude in determining who would re-
ceive benefits and how much they would get. Al-
though recipients were not expected to work, some
Americans soon worried that these individuals were
taking advantage of the system and that the benefits
awarded to them were undeserved. The AFDC pro-
gram quickly became the most stigmatizing welfare
program to evolve from the New Deal.
Welfare Programs of the 1960s
As the use of these New Deal welfare programs
exploded over several decades, the administrations of
John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson of the
1960s saw a resurgence of public interest in issues re-
garding minorities, the poor, and children. During
this time, new welfare programs were created to help
address the continued spread of poverty, homeless-
ness, hunger, and medical problems—difficulties that
plagued many of America’s citizens. The Food Stamp
Act of the 1960s attempted to address the nation’s
problem of hunger by providing another means-
tested program for the poor, the disabled, and single-
parent households, in the form of food stamps. Also
established was the Medicaid program, which was
means-tested and offered medical care to poor chil-
dren, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Unlike
Medicare, the health insurance program for the el-
derly, Medicaid involved financial contributions from
the states. These programs continued to exist into the
twenty-first century, although many restrictions and
time limitations had been added.Welfare Reform
Although history shows that efforts were made, in
particular decades and through particular political
administrations, to address the effects of poverty,
homelessness, and hunger on American citizens,
there has always been controversy about the effective-
ness of the means-tested programs, such as AFDC,
food stamps, and Medicaid. Furthermore, the growth
of AFDC, which had reached a peak of 14.2 million
recipients by 1994, concerned many Americans. Con-
sequently, in 1996 a sweeping welfare reform package
entitled the Personal Responsibility and Work Op-
portunity Act (PRWOA) was passed by Congress and
signed into law by President Bill Clinton. It effectively
eliminated the nearly sixty-year-old entitlement wel-
fare program initiated by Roosevelt. PRWOA re-
manded the responsibility for certain welfareWELFARE PROGRAMS 433