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Welfare Family Cap Rules

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Most families on welfare have one or two children.

Some states maintain family caps, also called child exclusion policies, in their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF, or federally funded welfare programs. A family cap prevents any proportional increase in a family's total cash benefits upon a child's birth, as of May 2011. Questions regarding your own family situation should be addressed to the appropriate state, territorial or tribal government agency and or a legal aid clinic.

  1. History

    • Aid to Families With Dependent Children, AFDC, the original national welfare program, started during the Great Depression. Under AFDC, each family member was entitled to a certain amount of cash assistance. Upon a new child's birth, the family's overall benefits increased by that amount. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, PRWORA, of 1996 replaced AFDC with TANF, a workfare-based program that abolished cash benefits as an entitlement for poor Americans. PRWORA allows states to pass and enforce family caps. Nearly half of U.S. states have since done so, although Maryland and Illinois both repealed their family caps in 2004.

    Prohibited Cash Increments

    • Fifteen states outright prohibit any increase to a family's total cash benefits upon a new child's birth. In Indiana, for example, a single mother with one child already can receive up to $229 monthly. If she conceives and births another child, her benefits stay at $229 instead of increasing $59 to $288, the standard grant for a family of three, as of 2011. Arkansas extends its cash increment ban to children conceived before but born after the start of family benefits.

    Reduced Cash Increments

    • Two states enforce a reduced cash increment. Connecticut adds $50 to the family's monthly grant for a child conceived and birthed after they began on TANF. The pre-1996 increment was $100. Florida has a similar policy, but covers only the first child conceived after the family started on TANF.

    Other Types of Family Caps

    • Oklahoma and South Carolina do not increase cash assistance with a child's birth, but sometimes give benefit vouchers. South Carolina may issue vouchers with a monthly value of $10 to $40 per family cap child. Two other states, Idaho and Wisconsin, pay a flat grant regardless of family size. In Idaho it is $309 per month, as of 2011.

    Exemptions

    • Most family cap states exempt children conceived through rape or incest and the first-born children of minor parents. California alone exempts children conceived through contraceptive failure, as long as the parents were using methods like sterilization or intrauterine devices whose effectiveness does not depend upon personal behavior.

    Effects

    • Proponents argue that family caps reduce non-marital births, dependency on the state and personal irresponsibility. Opponents assert that family caps increase child poverty, interfere in poor women's reproductive rights and pressure them toward abortion. Research findings about family caps are mixed and inconclusive, except for evidence showing that women do not have more children to increase their benefits in the absence of a family cap. Clearly, however, most families receiving cash benefits have one or two children, just like the "general population."

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