Impact of Work Requirements on the Psychological Well-Being of TANF Recipients (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families‪)‬

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) (P.L. 104-193) replaced the decades-old program known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with the new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Unlike AFDC, TANF is a block grant program. The two programs also differ in that TANF imposes both work requirements and time limits on the receipt of benefits. TANF policies are enforced through sanctions that remove or reduce benefits for noncompliant recipients. This radical change in the general approach to public assistance forces some welfare recipients to find employment before benefits are capped or leave TANF unemployed. Although TANF's stringency arguably creates stress and distress among recipients, the self-sufficiency TANF promotes may in turn promote mental and physical well-being among welfare recipients. Distress induced by TANF policy may be alleviated by the very social support that makes it possible for TANF recipients to become employed. The purpose of the current research was to investigate how psychological well-being is affected by the experience of receiving welfare, along with employment status and social support. Receiving welfare is stigmatized in U.S. society, fostering feelings of failure and self-blame. It consequently has a negative effect on mental health (Ensminger, 1995). "Chronic burden" and "social support" are concepts meant to explain a relationship that studies have shown to exist between welfare receipt and psychological distress. Both current and prior welfare receipt have been found to be associated with depression (Coiro, 2001; Dooley & Prause, 2002; Jayakody, Danziger, & Pollack, 2000; Lehrer, Crittenden, & Norr, 2002; Petterson & Friel, 2001). Furthermore, leaving welfare programs has been shown to help reduce recipients' depression (Wilson, Ellwood, & Brooks-Gunn, 1995). In one study, individuals who had never enrolled for welfare reported lower levels of psychological distress than current and former welfare recipients did (Ensminger).