Updated June 22, 2023
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Block Grant
Introduction
American Indian tribes may also operate their own TANF
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
programs with federal dollars. The bulk of TANF funding is
block grant was created in the Personal Responsibility and
in a basic block grant of $16.5 billion per year. Every year,
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA,
each state receives a fixed grant based on how much it
P.L. 104-193). That law was the culmination of a series of
received in federal funding in the pre-1996 cash assistance
legislative changes that altered the rules for providing
and related programs during the early- and mid-1990s.
benefits and services to needy families with children.
Tribes also may receive grants based on mid-1990s
Brief History
expenditures.
Public cash assistance to needy families with children has
The TANF block grant has not been increased since the
its origin in the early 1900s state and locally financed
enactment of the 1996 welfare law. There has been no
“mother’s pension” programs that aided single mothers
adjustment for inflation or population change. From 1997 to
(often widows) so that children could be raised in their own
2022, the basic TANF block grant has lost 45% of its value
homes rather than be institutionalized. The Social Security
to inflation. During TANF’s history, states have at times
Act of 1935 provided federal funding for these programs
received TANF funds in addition to the basic block grant.
with the explicit goal to aid mothers so they would not have
Since 2011, some states have routinely tapped a
to work and could stay home to raise their children.
“contingency fund,” that was originally intended to provide
extra funding during economic recessions.
Post-1935 changes altered the context in which programs
for needy families with children operated. In 1939,
In addition to federal funding, states are required to
survivors’ benefits were added to Social Security, providing
contribute a minimum amount of nonfederal funds on the
social insurance benefits to widows and their children. The
TANF-related populations and TANF-related activities.
increase in labor force participation among married mothers
This amount is also based on historical expenditures in pre-
altered views about whether government should aid single
TANF programs and is known as the “maintenance of
mothers to stay at home. Families with children whose
effort” (MOE) requirement. Some states spend more than
fathers were alive but absent comprised more of the public
the minimum.
cash assistance caseload. An increasing share of those
Use of TANF Funds
receiving assistance were African-American. Cash
States may use federal block grant and MOE funds in any
assistance to needy families with children became among
manner that is “reasonably calculated” to achieve TANF’s
the most controversial of social programs, particularly
statutory purpose and goals. In FY2021, a total of $30.3
beginning in the late 1960s as the cash assistance caseload
billion was spent by states from federal TANF and state
had its first large increase. Proposals to replace or reform
MOE funds. FY2021 TANF basic assistance, including
cash assistance for needy families were debated across four
monthly cash benefits to families with children, totaled $6.9
decades, ultimately leading to the enactment of PRWORA.
billion. In addition to assistance, TANF contributes to state
The TANF Block Grant
funds used for work and training programs, child care, pre-
PRWORA and the creation of TANF altered the federal
kindergarten programs, programs to provide services to
rules that applied to states for their cash assistance
children who have been abused and neglected or are at risk
programs. It also ended dedicated funding for cash
of it, and other services (e.g., youth activities, responsible
assistance to needy families. Federal funding for such
fatherhood, healthy marriage promotion).
assistance was folded into a broad-purpose block grant. The
TANF block grant’s overall purpose is to “increase the
flexibility of states” to meet four statutory goals:
(1) provide assistance to needy families so that children
may remain in their homes; (2) end the dependence of
needy parents on government benefits through work, job
preparation, and marriage; (3) reduce out-of-wedlock
pregnancies; and (4) promote the formation and
maintenance of two-parent families.
Federal Grants and State Funds
TANF provides grants to the 50 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant
Figure 1. Uses of Federal TANF and State MOE
Figure 3. Number of Families Receiving Cash
Funds, by Category, FY2021 ($ in billions)
Assistance, July 1959–September 2022

Source: CRS, based on data from the Department of Health and
Human Services. Detail does not add to total because of rounding.

Source: CRS, based on data from the Department of Health and
State TANF Cash Assistance Programs
Human Services. Shaded months denote economic recessions.
Federal law requires that a family aided by TANF cash
Much of the post-1994 decline in the cash assistance
assistance have a dependent child, and limits to five years
caseload resulted from a reduction in the share of eligible
federally funded aid to families with an adult recipient.
families receiving benefits, rather than a reduction in the
States set most TANF rules that apply to recipient families.
number of families meeting states’ definitions of being a
States determine the TANF benefit amounts. In July 2020,
needy family. In 1994, an estimated 79% of individuals
the maximum monthly benefit for a single-parent family
eligible for cash assistance actually received benefits; in
with one child ranged from $862 in New Hampshire to
2018, an estimated 26% of persons in families that met
$146 in Mississippi. There is a regional pattern to these
states’ eligibility requirements actually received benefits.
maximum benefits; they are generally lowest in the South.
Work Requirements
Figure 2. Maximum Monthly TANF Cash Assistance
Current TANF rules for engagement of assistance recipients
Benefit by State, July 2020
in work are in the context of meeting the minimum work
Single Parent, One Child
participation rate (WPR). The minimum WPR is a
performance standard for the state; it does not apply
directly to individual recipients. States that do not meet the
minimum WPR are at risk of a reduction in their federal
TANF funds. To meet the current TANF work participation
standard, a state must have 50% of “all families” and 90%
of families with two parents either working or engaged in
activities. A state may lower these statutory percentages by
reducing its caseload from FY2005 levels. Under the Fiscal
Responsibility Act of 2023 (P.L. 118-5), beginning in
FY2026, caseload reduction is to be measured from
FY2015 levels. Work in an unsubsidized job and
participation in job preparation activities count toward
meeting the standard. There are rules for the minimum
hours per week of participation required for a family to be
counted toward meeting the state’s minimum WPR. Under
P.L. 118-5, HHS may authorize up to five states to operate

pilot programs that would be assessed using employment
Source: CRS, based on data from the Urban Institute’s Welfare
and other family well-being outcomes, rather than the WPR
Rules database.
and the caseload reduction credit.
In September 2022, a total of 1.0 million families received
TANF assistance. This compares with the historical peak in
In FY2021, all jurisdictions except 3 (Florida, Maryland,
receipt of assistance under TANF’s predecessor program in
and Oregon) met the “all families” work standard and all
March 1994 of 5.1 million families.
but 10 met the two-parent standard. States that met their
work standard generally did so through caseload reduction
and aiding families who were already working, rather than
engaging unemployed recipients in activities.
Issues
Most TANF policies date back to PRWORA and 1996.
TANF is currently funded through September 2023, and
Congress could consider policy changes to accompany a
measure that extends TANF funding beyond that date.
Several issues have been raised in recent discussions around
TANF:
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The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant
• Both the overall level of funding and its distribution
• The almost continuous decline in the number of families
among the states date back to spending in pre-TANF
receiving assistance since the mid-1990s, along with a
programs in the early-to-mid 1990s. Congress might
decline in the percentage of eligible families who
consider updates to funding levels and/or how funding is
receive assistance, has raised questions about whether it
distributed among the states.
is meeting the needs of low-income families.
• Proposals have been made in the past to target a
• Whether further changes should be made to the TANF
specified percentage of funding to certain activities or
work standards beyond those made by P.L. 118-5.
target funding to specific populations, such as families
with income no greater than 200% of the federal poverty
Gene Falk, Specialist in Social Policy
level.
IF10036


Disclaimer
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10036 · VERSION 29 · UPDATED

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