In 1981, President Ronald Reagan cut Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) spending[7] and allowed states to require welfare recipients to participate in workfare programs. Charles Murray's book Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950–1980 (1984) argued that the welfare state actually harms the poor, especially single-parent families, by making them increasingly dependent on the government, and discouraging them from working.[8] Murray proposed that current welfare programs be replaced by short-term local programs.[9]