TANF’s embedded racism and unfettered state control have led to a deteriorating cash assistance program for all families, with Black families facing a disproportionate impact.
Welfare has already been shaped by racial discrimination laws and TANFS appear to have allowed those inequalities to continue. Sates who had a higher er concentration of Black people often adopted the most restrictive and punitive TANF implementation rules. This reduced the safety net that Black families could d rely on.
such as that Black women are unfit mothers — and paternalistic policies that sought to control Black women’s behavior and compel their labor. It then shows how these ideas and policies still influence TANF today. (It does not cover the full scope of TANF policies that are racist and should be changed, including child support enforcement
States also gained enough flexibility that a lot of the money that people assume is welfare doesn’t actually go out as cash assistance to poor families anymore. Some states use substantial portions of their TANF money for other programs that technically satisfy the law. So we wound up with a system that is very good at reducing the number of people receiving welfare but that isn’t necessarily the same thing as reducing the number of people who need the help.
hroughout the history of cash assistance, many policymakers and public figures have used these same racist justifications and stereotypes to question Black women’s reproductive choices, coerce Black women
In a misguided effort to support widows the US government provided support to otherwise able people. These policies were put into place so that only families without an able body man in the household would receive full payments. This only resulted in the upheaval of family dynamics and a huge increase in the number of unmarried parents. It also led to the welfare trap of reduced benefits once someone was working.
The idea that only families meeting specific criteria deserve government support dates back to the beginnings of cash assistance
The prevailing view seems to be that mothers in these circumstances were better off staying home to care for their children rather than working. Eligibility rules were more flexible for white people but became more stricter for non-whites. Clinton seems to have been under pressure to compromise sides with both parties at the time so the end result some what resembled the old Reagan era.