History of Aid to Families with Dependent Children

History of AFDC

There seem to be two main assumptions in the statement in terms of economics and relationships. In terms of economics, the basic assumption is that young women, and particularly teenagers, make a conscious decision to become pregnant, and that this decision is based upon whether it can be afforded or not. However, a teenager who decides to have sex seldom does so in terms of considering the consequences. It is a decision based upon emotion and hormonal drive. The economics of any resulting pregnancy is considered only after the fact. Therefore, removing social support for out of wedlock mothers is unlikely to remove the source of the problem, which is not economically based in the first place.

In terms of relationships, the second assumption in the statement is that women are primarily dependent upon men for their well-being. When falling pregnant, therefore, it is assumed that these girls will marry the fathers of their unborn children for primarily economic reasons. This is, however, not necessarily a realistic reason for marrying a person. The assumption is also that it is more desirable to be part of a two-parent family than a single-parent one. The theory behind this is that a two-parent family is necessarily more stable than other, non-traditional types of families. There is no consideration for personal or social issues that might influence the well-being of a family that is forced together by pregnancy.

2.

When a young girl falls pregnant out of weldlock then, a shorter time limit might be imposed upon her benefits to encourage her to find other means of support. According to the mentioned ideal, this would be with the father of her unborn child. The discussion of time limits on benefits would then take the form of imposing these as tightly as possible to encourage reliance of unwed mothers on their male counterparts.

This could also impact time limits on other benefits that do not necessarily relate to unwed mothers and their children. Poor families who rely on benefits to help them survive while the breadwinner is not employed, for example, could also be subject to time limits to encourage them to search for work.

In both cases, the challenge that recipients face is to find some stability for themselves and their families within the limited time that they receive benefits. Young women may then find themselves wtihin relationships that are not beneficial to them or their children, where resentment builds up as a result of a sense of forced marriage and family life. In terms of employment, poor families may be caught in the cycle of poverty by being forced to accept lower paying jobs to meet time limits and job requirements.

In general, imposing time limits on benefits is ultimately not an optimal solution to either out of wedlock pregnancy or poverty in general.