Welfare

Welfare policy in the United States is controversial. Given the country's ethos of individualism and self-reliance, the public often blames the poor for their misfortunes and views those who receive public aid with distrust. Historically, both cash aid and publicly supported poorhouses reflected the philosophy that aid was meant mainly for widows with children and the indigent. The government's approach to aid rests on a delineation of those who are worthy and unworthy.

The first welfare programs emerged following widespread unemployment during the economic downturn of the 1930s. Triggered by the stock market crash of 1929, the Great Depression was an era of rampant poverty; working-class families and the elderly were the hardest hit. President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs sought to provide relief to unemployed workers and their families. One of these was the Social Security Act of 1935, which marked the beginning of sustained U.S. welfare programs. This act created three programs: Old Age Assistance, Aid to the Blind, and Aid to Dependent Children, providing means-tested entitlements to low-income elderly, the blind, and poor children with absent fathers, respectively.

Other welfare programs were subsequently added since the 1935 Social Security Act. Between 1939 and 1943, the U.S. Department of Agriculture administered the first food stamps program. The U.S. food stamps program expanded throughout the 1960s and 1970s. By 1974, 15 million Americans were participating in this program. In 1965, Title XIX of the Social Security Act was passed, allowing low-income individuals access to a health insurance program now known as Medicaid.

Changes to the welfare system have occurred since these programs were enacted. For example, the Old Age Assistance and Aid to the Blind in 1974 later became known as Supplemental Security Income. Aid to Dependent Children later became known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), which was a federal program administered to provide financial assistance to needy families. AFDC later expanded its services through the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act by providing services around community development, job training, and housing. AFDC and other programs expanded in the 1970s due to increased activism among the poor and to changes in household composition. The program significantly reduced the number of poor Americans, especially among the elderly. The poverty rate dropped to a low of 11 percent in the 1970s, from a high of over 25 percent before the War on Poverty began in the 1960s. AFDC was subject to state-level funding and gave discretion to local service providers. The program continued the tradition of subjecting U.S. welfare aid recipients to public controls through means-tested measures.