Out of the Welfare Swamp

The current welfare system is a quagmire. Millions of women and their children are mired in poverty, dependent on their monthly welfare check, with little or no hope of a better life. Now, for the first time in a decade, real reform of the welfare system is tantalizingly close. Having come this far, Congress must finish the job.

In the last two years a broad reform consensus has emerged between conservatives, eyeing reduced welfare rolls and tax savings, and liberals, hoping to institute national education and job-training programs for poor families. Reform bills, supported by the nation’s governors, have passed both houses of Congress and are now in conference committee. The Senate bill, introduced by Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) and passed by a 93-3 vote in June, puts heavy emphasis on training unwed mothers for work and requiring absentee fathers to pay child support. Until now the 53-year-old program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children has been primarily an income-maintenance program with a mild job program. The new reforms aim to reverse the emphasis.

Nationally, nearly 4 million parents, primarily single mothers, and 7.3 million children depend on welfare. The new program would require that all able-bodied mothers with children older than 3 accept jobs or training, and the program would also require that the states provide the job education or training--as far as state resources permit. The federal government would match the state funds at a rate of 60% for wealthy states like California and New York and up to 80% for poor states like Mississippi. The Senate bill, which would cost $3.3 billion over the next five years, is deficit-neutral. Up to $2 billion would come from the Internal Revenue Service intercepting tax refunds to individuals who have defaulted on their student loans or other debts to the federal government.

The new legislation recognizes that single mothers need child care and health benefits if they are to join the work force. Poor families would keep Medicaid benefits (Medi-Cal in California) up to a year after their last welfare check instead of four months, as in most states. Previously there was no transitional child-care support. Now, however, child care would be provided for at least the first nine months.

A final sticking point is a provision to make “unemployed parent” coverage mandatory across the nation. Currently, less than 10% of the families on AFDC have two parents living at home. In the 23 states that do not offer “unemployed parent” coverage, fathers must move out in order for the family to qualify for welfare.

The Reagan Administration has agreed to include such families if the breadwinner is required to work at least 16 hours a week in a community service or “workfare” job. But the money that it would cost to set up and supervise these make-work programs would drain resources away from the training programs for young mothers that are at the heart of the legislation. Many governors, of both parties, believe that this make-work provision is a mistake. We agree.

In the 1970s Congress bypassed chances to reform the welfare system. Legislators rejected good bills in the hope of getting a better bill the following year. This year’s legislation, which is a major step in the right direction, must not be derailed. Single mothers and their children living in poverty need a ray of hope--now.