Welfare recipients have been pushed to work towards independence and self-reliance by the nineteen ninety-six Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. With the creation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, states have assertively moved to adopt programs and policies to help families transition off of welfare and into the workplace. Looking at welfare reform policies that have been under drastic criticism since their inception, such as time limits, work requirements, and a reduction in benefits, provides a better insight as to their value in society.

One of the major welfare reform policies was the addition of a work requirement to receive federal benefits. The nineteen ninety-six bill replaced the nineteen sixty-six "Aid to Families with Dependent Children program," (AFDC) with a single program of block grants to States to independently operate statewide temporary assistance programs. These assistance programs have certain mandatory work, education...