Aid to Dependent Children Program
The Aid to Dependent Children program was created in 1935 by the Social Security Act of 1935 as a New Deal program as an aid program administrated by the Department of Health and Human Services. It was renamed in 1962 when the words Families with were added, making it the Aid to Families With Dependent Children.
In 1996, President Bill Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, designed to radically alter the program.
Reagan Speech Relevance[edit]
In 'A Time For Choosing', Reagan tells the following story:
But seriously, what are we doing to those we seek to help? Not too long ago, a judge called me here in Los Angeles. He told me of a young woman who had come before him for a divorce. She had six children, was pregnant with her seventh. Under his questioning, she revealed her husband was a laborer earning $250 a month. She wanted a divorce so that she could get an $80 raise. She is eligible for $330 a month in the Aid to Dependent Children Program. She got the idea from two women in her neighborhood who had already done that very thing.
In these instances, the federal aid program broke up families. Children were forced to grow up without fathers.
