Read on Twitter
When #COVID struck, #TANF the primary cash assistance program for families with the lowest incomes, was at its weakest point in the program’s history in most states, our annual update on #TANF benefit finds. (1/13) https://www.cbpp.org/research/family-income-support/tanf-benefits-still-too-low-to-help-families-especially-black
In 33 states, benefit levels have declined by at least 20 percent in inflation-adjusted value since #TANF’s enactment in 1996. In every state, benefits are at or below 60 percent of the poverty line and fail to cover rent for a modest two-bedroom apartment. (2/13)
#TANF does a poor job of providing assistance to Latino and especially Black children, whose parents and the communities in which they live are more likely to feel the devastating effects of COVID-19 and the resulting economic crisis. (3/13) https://www.cbpp.org/research/family-income-support/lift-voices-describe-hardships-among-black-and-latina-mothers-in
We find that a majority (55%) of Black children live in states with #TANF benefits below 20% of federal poverty guidelines, compared to 41% of Latino children and 40% of white children. (4/13)
Similarly, nearly half (49%) of Black children live in states with #TANF benefits that cover less than a third of the rent for a modest 2-bedroom apartment, compared to 38% of Latino children and 29% of white children. (5/13)
Many of these extremely low-benefit states had some of the lowest benefits under #TANF’s predecessor, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), and in almost every instance, leave a family deeper in poverty today than they did in the past. (6/13)
Since federal cash assistance for families began during the New Deal, states have used the considerable powers given to them under federal law to deny Black families the assistance they need. (7/13) #TANF
In the 40s and 50s, some states would deliberately pay out lower benefits to Black families, if they accepted the family’s application for aid at all. (8/13) #TANF https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/aid-for-dependent-children/
Some states also implemented “farm policies” that lowered or cut off benefits to Black families during the planting or harvesting seasons to force parents and children as young as 7 into agricultural jobs that paid extremely low wages. (9/13) #TANF https://cssp.org/resource/racist-roots-of-work-requirements/
In the 60s and 70s, important victories were won by the Welfare Right Movement and legal aid organizations, restricting states’ ability to set discriminatory eligibility policies. However, benefit levels remained without federal regulation. (10/13) #TANF https://www.cbpp.org/research/family-income-support/cash-assistance-should-reach-millions-more-families
In 1970, the South generally had lower AFDC benefits than the rest of the country. This remains true in 2020, with all but Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia having #TANF benefits below 20% of poverty. (11/13)
Studies have also shown that, between the 60s and 90s, states with higher Black populations or higher shares of Black families on the caseload had lower average AFDC benefits. (12/13) #TANF
Today, low #TANF benefits, rooted in historical racism, don’t just affect Black families — they affect all families facing a crisis or struggling to pay for the basics. (13/13)
