Family Life

02.02.09 | FL News Team

Even as more families find themselves losing their balance financially, states are yanking away the welfare safety net. "The New York Times" reports that 18 states cut their welfare rolls last year, some drastically so, even as the economy was clearly tanking.

Michigan trimmed welfare rolls by 13-percent, despite having one of the highest unemployment rates, now hovering over nine-percent. Eight of the 12 states where jobless numbers spiked late last year either reduced or kept steady the number of families eligible for temporary cash aid. 

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families replaced cash entitlements in 1996, giving states a mandate to discourage single mothers from remaining on public assistance. The program worked as intended during boom times, with welfare rolls dropping 70-percent since the law's passage. 

But with the downturn, even some conservatives are saying the dole should be expanding to meet the need. Ron Haskins, who helped write the law as a Republican Congressional aid, says, "We would expect, just on the face of it, that when a deep recession happens, people could go back on welfare."

In contrast, food stamps are soaring. The federal government spent 12-percent more in 2008 on the emergency food coupons over the prior year.