Social Service Review· 2026Q1
Beyond Welfare and Work: TANF’s Enduring Relevance in Social and Family Policy Research
- 1citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Despite diminished reach and low benefits, TANF remains central to understanding the US social safety net due to its cash assistance, block grant structure, administrative complexity, and work requirements.
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Key points
- TANF remains central to understanding the US social safety net despite diminished reach and low benefits.
- Four defining features of TANF contribute to its enduring relevance: cash assistance, block grant structure, administrative complexity, and work requirements.
- These features offer insights into policy design, inequality, and family well-being.
- Renewed research on TANF is essential for policy improvement and broader debates on cash transfers and family policy.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Thirty years after the 1996 welfare reform replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), scholarly and policy attention to the new program has waned. This article argues that despite its diminished reach, low cash benefits, and fragmented implementation, TANF remains central to understanding the evolution and current structure of the US social safety net. We contend that TANF’s enduring relevance lies in four defining features: its provision of cash assistance to families, block grant structure and devolution to states, administrative complexity, and work requirements. Each feature provides important insights into policy design, inequality, and family well-being and also highlights opportunities for reform. Drawing on existing research, we demonstrate how these features shape access, outcomes, and disparities across states and populations. We conclude that renewed research on TANF is essential to improving the policy and to informing broader debates about cash transfers, administrative burden, and the future of family policy in the United States.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Social Service Review, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Gender Studies
Gender StudiesSocial Sciences