20 years ago, Welfare Reform was introduced

Twenty years ago Monday, then-president Bill Clinton signed a bill to overhaul the welfare system. 

The new bill effectively taking away the monthly handouts  and exchanging that for a program with a two year limit per person called temporary assistance for needy families or TANF.

TANF attached a work component to welfare, which required people to prove that they were needy and were actively seeking employment. 

47 ABC spoke with one economics professor about her views on welfare reform.

Jan Christopher, associate professor for Delaware State University, says the program was successful during the Clinton administration and forced many people to get off of welfare and get jobs.

However because it hasn’t received structural reform since its inception the program is flawed. 

Many people forced to take minimum wage jobs after their time on TANF runs out.

“The negatives of the system is the people are sometimes permanently trapped in low wage employment so they’re working really long hours for very low pay and that is the downside of the entire welfare reform as we know it,” Christopher said. 

Christopher explains that because so many welfare dependents take minimum wage jobs that creates a system where businesses are not pressured to pay more because they know people need those jobs.