Welfare reform, 20 years later

This week in 1996, under great political pressure, President Bill Clinton finally (after two vetoes) signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, more comonly known as “welfare reform.”

It made important changes. For the first time, welfare recipients would be required to work after two years of receiving benefits, and there would be a lifetime limit of five years. Perverse incentives to have children out of wedlock and to break up intact families to get benefits were also eliminated.