SCOPE:

During the 1990s, U.S. policy makers made major changes to the public welfare system.  That pledge led to a massive overhaul of the nation's welfare system in 1996, during which the federal government stopped guaranteeing benefits to the nation's poor and required them to find jobs and move off public assistance. Today, most lawmakers view those reforms as a success. As a result, many of them want to build upon the 1996 reforms by making work requirements even tougher. Others, however, say that the government should focus not on getting more poor people into jobs, but on lifting the working poor out of poverty.  (Issues and Controversies 2002) 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The following sources will allow you to become more familiar with your topic, will give you ideas for narrowing your topic, and will serve as a starting point for your further research.

SPEECH TABLE ITEMS
CQ Researcher Issues
    Welfare, Work and the States 1996 p. 1057+"
    Helping the Homeless 1996 p. 73+
   
Poverty: opposing viewpoints

Inner-city poverty/  contemporary issues companion

Taking Sides: clashing views on controversial political issues

REFERENCE ITEMS
Encyclopedia Americana
REF AE 5 .E333

International Encyclopedia of Social Science
REF H 40 .A2 I5

Encyclopedia of Social Issues
REF HN 57 .E59

Encyclopedia of Social Work
REF HV 35 .S6  

SUGGESTED TOPICS:

This topic is one which can be studied from a number of aspects and points of view. Some of these might be:

• Does society have an obligation to care for the less well-off?

• To what extent is society responsible for the welfare of its members?
• Is the government responsible for the homeless problem?
• Does government assistance perpetuate poverty?
• Do government handouts maintain the permanent underclass?
• Would public jobs programs be a better replacement for welfare?
• What has caused the housing crisis and can government intervention solve it?
• Are the poor responsible for their poverty?
• Can welfare reform lead to a return to the work ethic?
• Can the states do a better job of welfare provision than the federal government?
• Has government support of illegitimate children taken over the role of fathers?
• What methods might work in reducing illegitimacy? Can sexual behavior be changed?
• Can education, job training, work program, child support enforcement and higher wages eradicate poverty?
• Can a welfare reform plan requiring recipients to work succeed?
• Will the reforms advocated motivate low-income people to work?
• Is it equitable to require local economies to create jobs?
• Could a non-entitlement work program which required all adults to work in exchange for assistance solve the welfare problem?
• Can states move welfare recipients into jobs?
• Will the new welfare law lead to a permanent reduction in dependency?
• In the future, will it be necessary for the private sector to supplant the government in providing welfare?
• Will the new welfare law hurt needy children?
• Did AFDC encourage women to have more children?
• Does welfare encourage teenage pregnancy?
• Will states begin a "race to the bottom" to avoid becoming welfare magnets?
• Who is going to create all the new jobs required of welfare recipients?
• What is the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act?
• Is the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program working better than the older welfare programs did?
• What is the difference between Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and TANF?