Comparing the New (TANF) with the Old (AFDC) - Public Opinion Polls

In November 1996, following the passage of the welfare-reform law, a Gallup poll asked Americans their opinion of the new law and its probable success or failure in improving the welfare system. The majority (54 percent) of the respondents felt it would be a success, while 31 percent thought it would be a failure, and 15 percent had no opinion.

More than five years later, in early 2002, the Democratic polling firm Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates surveyed 1,002 Americans on their perception of the success of welfare reform. In Public Views on Welfare Reform and Children in the Current Economy, the pollsters found that 10 percent described welfare reform as "very successful," 46 percent judged it "somewhat successful," 24 percent thought that it had been "not too successful," and 12 percent considered it "not successful at all." Eight percent of respondents had no opinion or did not respond.