Welfare Reform - The Hunger Museum: A Virtual Project of MAZON

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The Hunger Museum Tour We Can Solve Hunger — The Proof is in Our History

Cementing Stereotypes into Policy

After a campaign promising to “end welfare as we know it,” President Clinton cemented these dangerous stereotypes that welfare recipients were lazy and prone to criminality into policy, through the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, otherwise known as “Welfare Reform,” legislation he signed in 1996.

The “reforms” in this legislation doubled down on the idea that welfare programs needed to prioritize the prevention of laziness or fraud, despite scarce evidence of either. The policies built in new restrictions on eligibility, time limits, and work requirements, and diverted even more federal funding from programs that could grown and shrink with need to limited-pool block grants.

Where is it located in the Museum?

Hunger & Charity in the Age of Austerity

Halstead, Dirck. “Pres. Bill Clinton signing welfare reform bill in WH Rose Garden w. former welfare recipient women & others incl. VP Gore (rear 2L) & Sen. Breaux (2R).” 1996. The Chronicle Collection, Getty Images.

After campaigning on a promise to “end welfare as we know it,” President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (often referred to as welfare reform) in 1996. Building on the racist and sexist tropes about struggling Americans cemented in the culture wars of the 1980’s, Representative Newt Gingrich and Congressional Republicans wrote the legislation purportedly to break the “cycle of poverty.” Welfare reform introduced work requirements and time limits on assistance programs like food stamps, as well as a lifetime cap on benefits. Thousands of once-eligible families immediately lost access to benefits, and thousands more were discouraged from applying.