NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH
NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program

Robert Moffitt

NBER Working Paper No. 8749*
Issued in January 2002
NBER Program(s):   CH    LE    PE

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was created in 1996 from what was previously named the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. The TANF program is intended to serve low-income families, primarily those with only a single parent present, as did the AFDC program. The TANF program is distinguished from AFDC by strong work requirements, time limits on receipt, options for the provision of noncash assistance, and by a block grant financing structure. This paper reviews the rules of the TANF program and the research that has been conducted on it and on the AFDC program.

*Published: This paper was subsequently published as The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, Robert A. Moffitt, in NBER book Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States (2003)

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