The 1996 welfare reform began necessary changes to the disastrous old welfare system. The rewards to non-work in the TANF program have been substantially reduced. But much more remains to be done.
Each year, government spends billions of dollars trying to address a host of social problems. Crime is but one example of the high costs of social breakdown. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that federal, state, and local governments spent $167 billion on police protection, judicial, legal and correctional activities in one year alone. Victims’ medical expenses, lost earnings, and assistance programs cost an estimated $105 billion more.