The long-term results are that lower income and working class families are suffering more from these transformations. ("Illinois Economic Outlook," 2012) (Clary, 2012) Once this theory has been supported or refuted, is the point that actuaries can begin to show how the PWORA is impacting stakeholders
The basic idea is that this will reduce the number of people who are enrolled in the program over longer periods of time. (Lewis, 2004) To prevent these abuses, the PWORA forced everyone to show how they are seeking out some kind of long-term training to support themselves
As a result, the law has changed the way unemployment and welfare policy is determined by state officials. (Lewis, 2004) (Maidenburg, 2011) Research Question To focus on the effectiveness of model used by the state of Illinois requires studying specific objectives
Many people, when faced with the fact that they are going to have to request special government assistance just to subsist, feel as though they will never be able to save their money or work their way out of the financial hole they are in. In other words, the authors present the case that people on welfare sometimes become complacent in their situation, and that the term limits for receiving such assistance need to be changed to reflect a more austere federal fiscal policy as well as the fact that welfare was meant to be a temporary form of financial help (Blank, 16)
The evidence suggests that the 1996 reform was not as successful as previously thought, and that it did not go far enough in reaching the families and individuals who were truly in need. States with welfare waivers that impacted the general parental responsibilities showed greater declines in caseload than those states with waivers that made working more attractive (Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 190)
The authors point out that a modification of the current system of waivers and work credits, specifically in states that have been severely affected by economic downturns, would be a great way to help re-tool the system. Currently, the amount of work and the benefits to not working are in favor of people on welfare who are currently not working (Hurst and Zilliak, 55)
It also became obvious that the PRWORA of 1996 was more than merely moving from welfare to employment; it sought to encourage the creation, and thereafter, the maintenance of two parent homes, and the reduction of out of wedlock pregnancies. (Andrulis; Duchon; Reid, 2003) widely publicized study on welfare reform and the various benefits and the innate disadvantages of welfare reform gave the opinion "one million children pushed into poverty," which, according to the study, would be the direct impact that the new welfare reform would have on the general population of the United States
Employers were able to increase their labor demand, and the reforms made sure that the increased labor supply would be mandated, at least to a certain extent. (Bradshaw, 2003) These were the overall objectives and aims of the welfare reforms, at a glance, in a hospital setup: to reduce the incapacity benefit claimants drastically, by about one million people, within a single decade, get 300,000 single parents back to work, and away from welfare, within a specific time period, and at the same time, increase by about one million, the number of people aged above fifty, into productive employment
Further general opinion was that the issue of marriage needed to be addressed, if the government were to make attempts to wean more people off welfare, because it was a documented fact that fewer marriages have taken place from the time when the welfare reforms were passed in 1996, while at the same time, current policies are doing absolutely nothing to keep women from becoming, and also from remaining, single parents. (Campbell, 2004) As a matter of fact, it was obvious that welfare reforms led to an 8
3% increase in the employment rate of single mothers with children, in comparison with that of single women without children, and in the United States of America as a whole, the passing of welfare reforms led to an 11% increase in the earnings of single mothers, as compared to that of single woman without children. (Gilbert, 2004) Take the state of Wisconsin, for example
Although it is a fact that many officials were able to recognize the advantages of welfare reforms, and also knew of the need for change, there were numerous individuals who vehemently opposed the new reforms, stating that they were afraid that they would only end up creating more hardship and difficulties to the already sad state of welfare. (Mead, 2004) However, despite all opposition, the welfare reforms were passed, and today, the social safety net has completely transformed itself, and work is to be taken as a necessary condition of cash assistance, especially for single mothers with children
(Definitions of welfare reform on the Web) Welfare Reform is also the term that is used to describe a political movement in countries where there exists a social welfare system that would successfully manage to bring in changes, albeit in a conservative direction. (Welfare Reform) What happened to bring in welfare reforms, and what was the immediate and most important cause? It is generally stated that it was the re-authorization of the 'Temporary Assistance to Needy Families' or what is more popularly known as the TANF program prompted the discussion of bringing in more changes into the existing welfare systems
The reason cited was that the benefits of welfare reforms would lie in the long-term behavioral changes that the reforms would supposedly produce, and that, in order to achieve this, short-term effects would have to be worse than ever before. (Winship; Jencks, 2004) It must be remembered that the welfare reforms were to expire in the year 2002, and that particular year, the welfare rolls were less than half their size in 1996