Welfare refers to the government programs that support Americans with low income. The programs provide a safety net for families and individuals to protect them from poverty. Several programs provide benefits for necessities such as housing and food. The Medicaid program is also included in welfare, and it provides health care to low-income Americans. These programs have one common thing, which is they are means-tested. However, the families and individuals must have income from self-employment or jobs at below a defined level for them to qualify for benefits. The majority of Americans support the restrictions on the welfare due to its advantages. This paper will exclusively explore …show more content…
The SIPP data have two advantages, which are, they authorize matching type of protection, coverage for the welfare policy conditions in each state in every month, and they permit managing for individual-level fixed effects. According to their finding, they found that implementation of TANF is associated with an increase of 8.1% in the probability that a welfare-eligible woman was uninsured. The reform of welfare had less of an impact on the health insurance coverage of children since the implementation of TANF was associated with an increase of 3.0% in the probability that a welfare-eligible child lacked health insurance. However, an unintended consequence of welfare reform was to affect the health insurance coverage of economically vulnerable women and children adversely. Welfare was reformed through the (PRWORA) Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act in 1996. PRWORA modified the primary objectives of aid by placing more emphasis on work experience accumulation and less on human capital accumulation. Besides, TANF was designed to meet this primary objective. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the number of welfare recipients in the country has fallen by 60% since the passage of the PRWORA. The framers of PRWORA intended to leave Medicaid eligibility unaffected, …show more content…
The design of WorkFirst discourages welfare dependency through the promotion of labor force participation and sanctions for non-compliance. WorkFirst is a progressive and comprehensive welfare-to-work program that uses many components consisting of over 30 different job induced welfare programs. The programs under WorkFirst provide individuals with educational opportunities, mentors, and paid work experience. The underlying premise of WorkFirst is that work experience accumulation places upward pressure on wage rates. Additionally, the components within WorkFirst promote work experience and skill building. They also provide temporary cash assistance, job training, and work experience to welfare recipients. Notably, recipients are allowed a maximum of 60 months of lifetime cash assistance with at most 24 consecutive months of support. Besides, the recipients must work or search for employment so that they can receive cash assistance. Unsuccessful individuals in finding employment, but making an effort can qualify for extensions according to the guidelines of WorkFirst. On the other hand, mentally and physically disabled individuals will continue to receive welfare assistance since they cannot participate in WorkFirst