Welfare Law: an overview In the United States, welfare benefits
for individuals and families with no or low income had been
almost non-existent prior to the Great Depression of the 1930s.
With millions of people unemployed, the federal government saw
income security as a national problem. In addition to
establishing two major "social insurance" programs to respond to
future income loss (Social Security and Unemployment
compensation), the Social Security Act of 1935 launched federal
grants to support state welfare programs for low-income elderly
and families with children. The former evolved into Supplemental
Security Income (SSI), a federally administered program for the
elderly, blind, and disabled. The latter became Aid to Families
with Dependent Children (AFDC). Both were supplemented by two
important "in kind" benefit programs also funded by the federal
government -- Medicaid and Food Stamps. Needy individuals not
meeting the eligibility criteria for these forms of federally
assisted or supported welfare