July 21, 2021
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the centerpiece of the Gingrich-Clinton era “welfare reform,” was signed into law 25 years ago this August. Past research has documented that TANF largely failed to respond to the Great Recession. While the number of families receiving TANF did increase modestly in 2009 and 2010, the increases were so slight that TANF ended up playing “essentially no role in smoothing the income fluctuations experienced by families” during this period.
Recently updated data on TANF’s performance during the pandemic recession suggest that TANF is on track to “fail worse” this time. As the table below shows, the total number of families in the United States receiving income assistance from TANF actually declined, by 3.5 percent, in 2020.
| 2019 | 2020 | Difference: 2020-2019 | Percentage Change: 2019-2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1,096,594 | 1,057,711 | -38,883 | -3.5% |
| Alabama | 7,450 | 7,113 | -337 | -4.5% |
| Alaska | 2,361 | 2,234 | -127 | -5.4% |
| Arizona | 6,964 | 7,939 | 975 | 14.0% |
| Arkansas | 2,415 | 2,187 | -228 | -9.4% |
| California | 373,362 | 344,095 | -29,267 | -7.8% |
| Colorado | 14,118 | 13,584 | -534 | -3.8% |
| Connecticut | 7,897 | 6,955 | -942 | -11.9% |
| Delaware | 3,368 | 2,848 | -520 | -15.4% |
| District of Columbia | 7,418 | 7,432 | 14 | 0.2% |
| Florida | 38,758 | 41,426 | 2,668 | 6.9% |
| Georgia | 9,149 | 8,327 | -822 | -9.0% |
| Guam | 449 | 452 | 3 | 0.7% |
| Hawaii | 4,116 | 5,690 | 1,574 | 38.2% |
| Idaho | 2,027 | 1,885 | -142 | -7.0% |
| Illinois | 10,782 | 10,688 | -94 | -0.9% |
| Indiana | 5,388 | 7,167 | 1,779 | 33.0% |
| Iowa | 8,900 | 7,954 | -946 | -10.6% |
| Kansas | 3,823 | 3,970 | 147 | 3.8% |
| Kentucky | 16,911 | 15,129 | -1,782 | -10.5% |
| Louisiana | 4,246 | 3,403 | -843 | -19.9% |
| Maine | 15,822 | 13,112 | -2,710 | -17.1% |
| Maryland | 16,295 | 22,554 | 6,259 | 38.4% |
| Massachusetts | 49,534 | 45,604 | -3,930 | -7.9% |
| Michigan | 11,078 | 13,566 | 2,488 | 22.5% |
| Minnesota | 15,607 | 16,210 | 603 | 3.9% |
| Mississippi | 3,203 | 2,332 | -871 | -27.2% |
| Missouri | 9,801 | 9,486 | -315 | -3.2% |
| Montana | 3,313 | 2,792 | -521 | -15.7% |
| Nebraska | 4,410 | 4,661 | 251 | 5.7% |
| Nevada | 8,098 | 7,480 | -618 | -7.6% |
| New Hampshire | 5,243 | 4,844 | -399 | -7.6% |
| New Jersey | 8,980 | 9,453 | 473 | 5.3% |
| New Mexico | 9,874 | 10,995 | 1,121 | 11.4% |
| New York | 115,779 | 115,004 | -775 | -0.7% |
| North Carolina | 13,435 | 13,814 | 379 | 2.8% |
| North Dakota | 946 | 999 | 53 | 5.6% |
| Ohio | 50,448 | 52,724 | 2,276 | 4.5% |
| Oklahoma | 5,899 | 5,629 | -270 | -4.6% |
| Oregon | 35,653 | 30,785 | -4,868 | -13.7% |
| Pennsylvania | 40,198 | 33,806 | -6,392 | -15.9% |
| Puerto Rico | 4,635 | 4,244 | -391 | -8.4% |
| Rhode Island | 3,936 | 3,172 | -764 | -19.4% |
| South Carolina | 7,984 | 7,818 | -166 | -2.1% |
| South Dakota | 2,912 | 2,752 | -160 | -5.5% |
| Tennessee | 19,201 | 16,478 | -2,723 | -14.2% |
| Texas | 22,629 | 20,269 | -2,360 | -10.4% |
| Utah | 3,227 | 2,832 | -395 | -12.2% |
| Vermont | 2,717 | 2,298 | -419 | -15.4% |
| Virgin Islands | 107 | 73 | -34 | -31.8% |
| Virginia | 17,377 | 18,402 | 1,025 | 5.9% |
| Washington | 36,363 | 41,055 | 4,692 | 12.9% |
| West Virginia | 6,361 | 5,919 | -442 | -6.9% |
| Wisconsin | 15,123 | 15,570 | 447 | 3.0% |
| Wyoming | 507 | 503 | -4 | -0.8% |
Source: CEPR analysis of HHS TANF Caseload Data for 2019 and 2020.
The number of families receiving TANF decreased in 34 states and territories and increased in 16 states, the District of Columbia and Guam. But in most of the states with increases, fewer than 1,000 additional families received TANF assistance in 2020.
As CEPR has previously documented, working class mothers were particularly hard-hit by the pandemic recession. A well-functioning program designed to increase the economic security of working class and low-income parents would have responded to this crisis by providing more income assistance to more families with children. TANF is a failed experiment. It’s time to repeal and replace it with a real and effective social security program.
