Comparing the New (TANF) with the Old (AFDC) - Characteristics Of Afdc/tanf Recipients

Children make up the majority of AFDC/TANF recipients. The proportion of children receiving benefits remained relatively steady from 1980 to 1999. In 1980,

TABLE 7.7
Maximum combined Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and food benefits¹ for single-parent family from one to six persons² January 1, 2003

	Family size
State	1	2	3	4	5	6
Wisconsin–Community Service	(3)	767	877	976	1,068	1,184
Wisconsin–W2 Transitions	(3)	735	845	944	1,036	1,153
1Food stamp calculations assume that the family does not receive an excess shelter deduction. In many states with low TANF benefits, combined benefits shown reflect the maximum food stamp allotment for the family size, but in some states the excess shelter deduction would increase food stamps (by up to $110 monthly–more in Alaska and Hawaii).
2Calculations assume a single-parent family with no earned income.
3Wisconsin has no one-person families in its regular W-2 (TANF) program. Pregnant women without children are ineligible and "child-only" recipients have been moved into special programs of kinship care and SSI caretaker supplements. The kinship care payment is $215 monthly per child; the SSI caretaker supplement program provides $250 monthly for the first eligible child and $150 for each additional child.
SOURCE: "Table 7-12. Maximum Combined TANF and Food Benefits for Single-Parent Family from One to Six Persons, January 1, 2003," in The Green Book, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, 2003 [Online] http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/greenbook2003/Section7.pdf [accessed January 28, 2004]

69.1 percent of AFDC recipients were children. Of the 5.1 million Americans who received TANF support in 2002, about 3.8 million (74.5 percent) were children. Meanwhile, the percentage of all children on AFDC/TANF fell from 11.5 percent in 1980 to 5.3 percent in 2002. (See Table 7.8.)

While one of the major criticisms of the AFDC program was that welfare mothers had many children in order to get additional benefits, the average AFDC family had only two children in 1980. Between 1980 and 2002 the number of children in the average AFDC/TANF family changed very little; in 2002 there were on average 1.9 children per family.

In 1999 most children receiving TANF benefits were children of the head of household in TANF families; 8 percent were grandchildren of the head of the household. In cases where only the child received TANF benefits, 63 percent lived with their parents and 23 percent with grandparents.

In 2001 African-American families were 39 percent of the TANF cases; white families, 30.1 percent; Hispanics, 26 percent; Asians, 2.1 percent; and Native Americans, 1.3 percent. This represents a decline in the percentage of white recipients (down from 38.9 percent in 1992), Asian recipients (down from 2.8 percent) and Native American recipients (down from 1.4 percent) and an increase in the percentage of African-American recipients (up from 37.2 percent) and Hispanic recipients (up from 17.8 percent). (See Table 7.10.)

The proportions of Asian or Native American children receiving benefits remained relatively stable from 1992 to 2001. During the same period, the percentage of all Hispanic child beneficiaries increased from 18.7 percent to 27.8 percent, and the proportion of African-American child beneficiaries

TABLE 7.8
Historical trends in Aid to Families with Dependent Children/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families enrollment, selected fiscal years, 1975–2002

	Average monthly number (in thousands)
Fiscal year	Families	Recipients	Children	Total child population (under age 18)*	% all children on AFDC/TANF
1975	3,357	11,094	7,952	67,164	11.8
1980	3,642	10,597	7,320	63,754	11.5
1985	3,692	10,813	7,165	62,623	11.4
1990	3,974	11,460	7,755	63,942	12.1
1991	4,374	12,592	8,513	65,069	13.1
1992	4,768	13,625	9,226	66,075	14.0
1993	4,981	14,143	9,560	66,963	14.3
1994	5,046	14,226	9,611	67,804	14.2
1995	4,879	13,659	9,280	68,438	13.6
1996	4,543	12,645	8,671	69,109	12.5
1997	3,937	10,935	7,301	69,603	10.5
1998	3,200	8,790	6,330	69,903	9.0
1999	2,674	7,188	5,319	70,199	7.6
2000	2,265	5,943	4,385	72,330	6.1
2001	2,116	5,420	4,055	72,616	5.6
2002	2,064	5,146	3,838	72,894	5.3
*Census Bureau estimates of the resident child population (under age 18) as of July 1 each year.
SOURCE: "Table 7-6. Historical Trends in AFDC/TANF Enrollments, Selected Fiscal Years, 1975–2002," in The Green Book, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, 2003 [Online] http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/greenbook2003/Section7.pdf [accessed January 28, 2004]

increased from 38.5 percent to 40.8 percent. The percentage of all white child beneficiaries dropped from 33.9 percent to 25.6 percent. (See Table 7.10.)

The majority of adults receiving TANF benefits between October 2000 and September 2001 had a high school education or less. Almost half (49 percent) had completed twelve years of schooling, and only 3.1 percent had education beyond high school. (See Table 7.11.)

The percentage of AFDC and TANF adults who were employed increased dramatically between 1990 and 2001, from 7 percent in 1990 to 26.7 percent in the period between October 2000 and September 2001.

AFDC recipients were likely to participate in one or more other programs. TANF recipients are also eligible for other types of assistance. Of the almost 4.6 million families on AFDC in 1996, 89.3 percent received food stamps. In 2001, 80.8 percent of TANF families received food stamps. Almost all families (99.6 percent) received Medicaid. TANF families received an average of $351.26 in cash assistance per month between October 2000 and September 2001. Family income from all other sources averaged $592.87 per month. (See Table 7.11). (For a more complete discussion of participation of TANF recipients in multiple programs, see Chapter 6.)

Although the largest expenditure for most families is for shelter, only about 20 percent of TANF families

TABLE 7.9
Families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, monthly average, fiscal years 1994–2002
[families in thousands]

State	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	Percent change, 2002–1994
Alabama	50	46	42	35	23	20	19	18	18	−64.2
Alaska	13	12	12	12	10	9	7	6	6	−53.1
Arizona	72	70	63	55	40	34	34	33	40	−44.3
Arkansas	26	24	23	21	14	12	12	12	12	−53.8
California	909	920	896	816	707	624	498	469	462	−48.1
Colorado	42	39	35	30	21	14	11	11	12	−70.9
Connecticut	59	61	58	56	48	34	28	26	24	−60.0
Delaware	12	11	10	10	7	6	6	5	6	−52.2
District of Columbia	27	27	26	24	21	19	18	16	16	−40.2
Florida	247	231	210	171	108	82	67	59	59	−76.1
Georgia	142	139	130	106	75	62	53	51	54	−62.0
Hawaii	20	22	22	21	17	16	14	13	11	−45.6
Idaho	9	9	9	6	2	1	1	1	1	−83.9
Illinois	240	236	224	199	170	123	84	62	48	−80.0
Indiana	74	66	53	45	40	37	36	41	49	−33.2
Iowa	40	37	33	29	25	22	20	20	20	−49.0
Kansas	30	28	25	20	14	13	13	13	14	−53.5
Kentucky	80	75	72	65	53	43	39	36	35	−56.3
Louisiana	87	80	71	57	48	39	28	25	24	−72.7
Maine	23	22	21	19	15	14	11	10	10	−57.6
Maryland	80	80	74	59	47	35	29	28	27	−66.2
Massachusetts	112	101	88	78	67	55	44	43	47	−57.7
Michigan	224	202	178	152	124	95	74	71	74	−66.8
Minnesota	63	61	58	53	48	43	39	39	36	−43.0
Mississippi	57	53	48	39	24	17	15	16	18	−69.0
Missouri	92	89	83	72	60	51	47	46	45	−51.1
Montana	12	12	11	9	6	5	5	5	6	−51.3
Nebraska	16	15	15	14	13	11	10	10	10	−35.2
Nevada	14	16	15	12	10	8	6	7	11	−22.5
New Hampshire	12	11	10	8	7	6	6	6	6	−47.0
New Jersey	122	119	106	95	77	62	52	45	42	−65.7
New Mexico	34	34	34	27	22	26	24	19	17	−49.4
New York	455	457	432	384	366	326	259	227	170	−62.5
North Carolina	131	126	113	99	78	59	46	44	43	−67.3
North Dakota	6	5	5	4	3	3	3	3	3	−45.8
Ohio	250	228	207	186	140	109	98	85	84	−66.4
Oklahoma	47	45	39	30	25	20	14	14	15	−68.5
Oregon	42	39	33	24	18	17	17	16	18	−57.5
Pennsylvania	210	205	190	164	135	106	90	83	81	−61.7
Puerto Rico	59	55	51	48	42	36	32	26	23	−60.2
Rhode Island	23	22	21	20	19	18	16	15	14	−36.6
South Carolina	52	49	46	34.2	25	18	18	17	21	−60.1
South Dakota	7	6	6	5	4	3	3	3	3	−58.0
Tennessee	111	104	99	70	57	58	56	59	63	−43.1
Texas	284	273	255	209	145	114	128	131	130	−54.2
Utah	18	17	15	12	11	10	8	8	8	−56.2
Vermont	10	10	9	8	7	7	6	6	5	−48.5
Virginia	75	72	65	54	43	37	32	29	30	−59.8
Washington	103	102	99	93	79	64	57	54	54	−47.4
West Virginia	41	38	37	34	20	11	12	15	16	−60.9
Wisconsin	77	72	60	39	13	19	17	18	19	−75.4
Wyoming	5.7	5.2	4.7	2.8	1.2	1	1	1	1	−91.2
Guam	1.9	2.1	2.1	2.3	2.1	3	3	3	3	−63.2
Virgin Islands	1.1	1.3	1.4	1.3	1.1	1	1	1	1	−45.5
Total	5,046	4,879	4,543	3,937	3,200	2,674	2,265	2,116	2,065	−59.1
SOURCE: "Table 7-7. AFDC/TANF Families, Monthly Average, Fiscal Years 1994–2002," in The Green Book, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, 2003 [Online] http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/greenbook2003/Section7.pdf [accessed January 28, 2004]

received subsidized housing assistance in 2001. The availability of public housing and rent subsidies varies significantly by state/territory, with Guam, Illinois, Iowa, Utah, the Virgin Islands, and Virginia providing no housing assistance, and Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Montana, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, and South Dakota providing assistance to more than 30 percent of their TANF families (See Table 7.12.) See Chapter 8 for more information on federal housing.