New
Deal
During the 1930s, the United States faced an enormous
economic depression that has come to be known as the Great
Depression. In response to this crisis, President
Franklin Roosevelt proposed a New Deal that would
provide Relief, Recovery, and Reform for
the American people and the economy.
|
FDR's
New
Deal |
| Relief |
Emergency Banking Act
(1933): Provided a "bank holiday" to
end the collapse of the national banking system.
Banks were closing in alarming numbers as people
withdrew their money during economic
panic. Civilian Conservation Corps
(1933): Employed young men in jobs conserving
natural resources. |
| Recovery |
Tennessee Valley Authority
(1933): Provided government jobs and electricity
infrastructure in poor rural areas. Home Owners Loan Corp.
(1934): Helped home owners save their homes from
foreclosure by providing refinancing options. |
| Reform |
Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp. (1933): Guaranteed individual banking
deposits up to a maximum amount of $5,000. Social Security Act
(1935): Provided an old-age pension to retired
workers, unemployment insurance, and aid for the
disabled and surviving children of deceased
parents. |
While some of these programs were temporary, designed only
to stimulate the sluggish economy, the reform legislation was
more permanent and created the modern welfare state in which
the government provides for the needs of those unable to care
for themselves.
Great Society
Under President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s,
the welfare programs of FDR were greatly expanded. It was
during this expansion that created the modern American welfare
state.
|
LBJ's
Great Society |
Head
Start
(1965) |
Provided
poor, disabled, and minority kids with extra academic
assistance through pre-school in order to ensure
educational success.
|
Job
Corps
(1966) |
Provided
training
for poor, minority inner-city youth in order to
cultivate job skills.
|
Medicare
(1965) |
Extended
Social Security benefits by providing health insurance
for the elderly.
|
Medicaid
(1966) |
Provides
health
insurance for the poor and disabled.
|
VISTA
(1966) |
Volunteers In
Service To America; Organized youth volunteers to work
in economically depressed areas.
|
New Federalism
Conservative reaction to these liberal welfare policies
caused a shift in policy during the Eisenhower, Nixon,
and Reagan Administrations. These Republican Presidents
wanted to reduce the role of the Federal Government by giving
the states more control over social welfare issues. Both Nixon
and Reagan referred to these initiatives as New Federalism.
Nixon instituted revenue sharing, in which federal
funds were given to states to implement social welfare
programs according to their individual needs.
Welfare Reform
Amid criticism of rampant abuses of the welfare system,
systematic welfare reform was proposed and passed under the
Clinton Administration in 1996. Under the Welfare Reform
Act,
the Federal Government provides block funding for states
according to the following stipulations:
-
Citizens can
receive welfare benefits
for no more than 5 years during their lifetime;
-
Citizens
receiving welfare benefits must work after collecting 2
years of benefits.
States with
welfare recipients that exceed these mandates cannot use
federal funds to provide their welfare benefits.
This change has
caused many states to initiate welfare reform at the state
level, thereby decreasing the total number of welfare
recipients across the United States.
|
