The protagonists and ideas behind the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996: the enactment of a conservative welfare system

Abstract

The passing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 culminated over two decades of conservative agitation against liberal welfare policies. America's new conservative welfare legislation, with its time limits, work requirements, and attacks on out-of-wedlock births, is a much tougher system that demands self-sufficiency and personal responsibility.