In response to the Great Depression, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act of 1935 as part of his New Deal. The act allowed the Department of Health and Human Services to introduce the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Under the AFDC, social benefits were more of an entitlement aimed at poor widows, allowing them to stay at home and raise their children. However, as the number of women in the workplace increased, the rights granted were criticized for encouraging single mothers' reliance on federal assistance. Critics, such as author Charles Murray, have argued that AFDC created a system that contributed to the problem because while it helped the unemployed financially, it discouraged people on benefits from trying to get jobs. As the cost of the welfare program increased, so did the general animosity of American taxpayers. The federal government noticed the growing dissent within the states and began to allow testing of restrictions on their welfare programs. After taking office in 1992, Bill Clinton made good on his promise to “end welfare as we know it” by signing the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act has been praised for replacing AFDC with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). TANF worked to end the benefit-entitlement status that encouraged the formation of two-parent families. On September 28, 1996, the bill was brought to the House where it was sent to the Committee on Ways and Means (thomas.loc.gov). In October of the same year, the Senate made... half of the paper... that in the years following the passage of the reform were due to the economic boom and we must look at the impacts of the reform. reforms now during difficult times in the economy to see whether the reform has actually achieved its intended objectives. (heritage.org) Works Cited Welfare Reform Acthttp://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r104:4:./temp/~r104MLF97ohttp://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/abbrev /prwora96.htmhttp://clinton5.nar a.gov/WH/Accomplishments/eightyears-02.htmlhttp://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/queryhttp://www.welfareinfo.org/http://www.hhs.gov/recov ery/programs/tanf/index.htmlhttp://ebooks.abc-clio.com/reader.aspx?isbn=9780585000435&id=WELFAE-h2-10http://www.heritage.org/rese arch/testimoniy/the-impact-of-welfare-reformhttp://hudson-consulting.org/Documents/PRWORA%20through%20the%20Lens%20of%20Brewer.pdf