Question

The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 ended the concept of entitlements by requiring recipients of welfare to find work within two years of receiving assistance. How has this changed the lives of the poor

Answer 1

Answer and Explanation:

The goal of the welfare reform act is to reduce the number of individuals that are dependent on government for sustenance.

On August 22, 1996, President Clinton signed into law "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996". The law stipulated that people could receive no more than five years of government benefits in a lifetime. The law required a certain population of welfare recipients to be working and others who could not get a job to participate in community service. Recipients who did not belong to any of these two categories would be stopped from enjoying any welfare assistance.

The program was targeted at promoting the work culture among the Americans. Transiting from a totally welfare based system to a work based system. This welfare reform forced some poor Americans to find work to do and stopped being dependent on the government while some who could not get work or who are not educated enough to get involved in community services remained in poverty. The only flaw of this reform was that it did not find work for these people, it only made it a requirement to benefit from the welfare system,