The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant
Updated April 3, 2024
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
2023, the basic TANF block grant has lost 47% 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 FY2022, a total of $31.3
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. FY2022 TANF basic assistance, including
cash assistance for needy families were debated across four
monthly cash benefits to families with children, totaled $7.2
decades, ultimately leading to the enactment of PRWORA.
billion. In addition to assistance, TANF helps fund state
The TANF Block Grant
programs that provide work, education, and training; child
PRWORA and the creation of TANF altered the federal
care and pre-kindergarten; benefits and services to children
rules that applied to states for their cash assistance
who have been abused and neglected or are at risk of it
programs. It also ended dedicated funding for cash
(child welfare); and other services (e.g., youth activities,
assistance to needy families. Federal funding for such
responsible fatherhood, healthy marriage promotion).
assistance was folded into a broad-purpose block grant. The
TANF block grant’s overall purpose is to “increase the
flexibility of states” to meet four statutory goals:
(1) provide assistance to needy families so that children
may remain in their homes; (2) end the dependence of
needy parents on government benefits through work, job
preparation, and marriage; (3) reduce out-of-wedlock
pregnancies; and (4) promote the formation and
maintenance of two-parent families.
Federal Grants and State Funds
TANF provides grants to the 50 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant
Figure 1. Uses of Federal TANF and State MOE
Figure 3. Number of Families Receiving Cash
Funds, by Category, FY2022 ($ in billions)
Assistance, July 1959–September 2023
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
The post-1994 decline in the cash assistance caseload
assistance have a dependent child, and limits to five years
resulted from both a reduction in the number of people
federally funded aid to families with an adult recipient.
eligible for assistance and a reduction in the share of those
States set most TANF rules that apply to recipient families.
eligible who actually receive assistance. In 1994, an
estimated 79% of individuals eligible for cash assistance
States determine the TANF benefit amounts. In July 2022,
actually received benefits; in 2018, an estimated 26% of
the maximum monthly TANF cash benefit for a single-
persons in families that met states’ eligibility requirements
parent family with one child ranged from $915 in New
actually received benefits.
Hampshire to $162 in Arkansas. There is a regional pattern
to these maximum benefits; they are generally lowest in the
Work Requirements
South.
Current TANF rules for engagement of assistance recipients
Figure 2. Maximum Monthly TANF Cash Assistance
in work are in the context of meeting the minimum work
for a Single Parent with One Child, July 2022
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
and other family well-being outcomes, rather than the WPR
Source: CRS, based on data from the Urban Institute’s Welfare
and the caseload reduction credit.
Rules database.
In FY2022, all jurisdictions except Oregon met the “all
families” work standard and all but
In September 2023, a total of 1.0 million families received
9 met the two-parent
TANF assistance. This compares with the historical peak in
standard. States that met their work standard generally did
receipt of assistance under TANF’s predecessor program in
so through caseload reduction and aiding families who were
March of 1994 at 5.1 million families.
already working, rather than engaging unemployed
recipients in activities.
Issues
Several issues have been raised in recent discussions around
TANF:
• Both the overall level of funding and its distribution
among the states date back to spending in pre-TANF
programs in the early-to-mid 1990s. Congress might
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The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant
• consider updates to funding levels and/or how funding is
(though different in details) upper federal income limit
distributed among the states.
of 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.
• There are current legislative proposals addressing the
• The almost continuous decline in the number of families
use of TANF funds. H.R. 7441 would require that a
receiving assistance since the mid-1990s, along with a
minimum amount of basic TANF funding be targeted to
decline in the percentage of eligible families who
certain “core” activities related to work and work
receive assistance, has raised questions about whether it
supports H.R. 7426 would target funding for many
is meeting the needs of low-income families.
TANF activities to families with income no greater than
200% of the federal poverty guidelines. The Biden
Gene Falk, Specialist in Social Policy
Administration has proposed a regulation for a similar
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Disclaimer
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