Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC)
Welfare program in the United States intended to provide
financial assistance to low-income families.
Initially created in 1935 under Title IV of the Social
Security Act as Aid to Dependent Children, the program’s
Aid to Families with Dependent Children 7principal objective focused on preventing poor families from
placing their children in orphanages in exchange for direct
cash payments. The program was renamed Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC) in 1962, and the federal
government matched state funds for the program. Although
AFDC remained an entitlement of the federal government’s
budget, individual states determined eligibility and amount
of benefits received, resulting in significant variation from
state to state.
Typical recipients included single-parent families, especially unmarried mothers and their children. The basic eligibility requirement was that a family include a dependent
child 18 years of age or younger, with an exception for 19-
year-old high school students. The child must prove U.S. citizenship or possess a legal permanent alien status and must
lack financial support from one parent. Two-parent families
may receive benefits if one parent remains unemployed.
The American public perceived the ADFC program, customarily identified within the larger context of the welfare
system, as flawed. It subsequently remained a target of bipartisan criticism that culminated in varied proposals to reform
the system and to address the nation’s poverty problem.
These proposals typically sought to require the recipient to
work, to assume personal responsibility, and to become selfsufficient. In 1988, Congress redefined AFDC through the
Family Support Act, a comprehensive reform initiative that
focused on employment rather than income support. Then,
in 1996, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a
component of the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act, replaced AFDC entirely.
TANF differs from its predecessor on several levels. Primarily,
it perceives welfare as a temporary circumstance rather than
a lifelong situation, and consequently it establishes a five-year
time limit for benefits. In addition, the program receives
funding from federal block grants, which provide greater
flexibility to the states and allow them to address their individual circumstances.