WELFARE-REFORM IN THE UNITED-STATES - A BACKGROUND PAPER

A remarkable convergence of political developments produced a major ch ange in the U.S. welfare system in 1996: the Personal Responsibility a nd Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. This article reviews recent we lfare policy history in the United States, surveys the major issues in welfare reform, outlines Democratic and Republican proposals, and sum marizes the new legislation. It is argued that the new initiative will increase the hardship experienced by the poor over at least the next few years. The act's changes in federal funding for public assistance plus state responses to new fiscal incentives the legislation creates are likely over time to increase, rather than reduce, the federal role in welfare finance, if not administration. The new welfare system pre sents an administrative and political challenge to governors and indir ectly to political leadership in the nation's cities. Despite reduced federal regulation of public assistance, the federal government still has an important role in program evaluation.