On August 22, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act into law. The Act fundamentally reformed the American welfare system, putting an emphasis on work requirements for those receiving federal assistance. The new law also limited most recipients to no more than 5 years on welfare and shifted money provided to states to the form of block grants, which the states could use to set their own criteria for welfare recipients.


Learn more about welfare reform from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.