Welfare Benefits' Buying Power Is Down One-Third Since 1970: House Panel Finds States' Aid S
The purchasing power of welfare benefits for low-income families with children has dropped 33 percent over the past 14 years because states did not raise benefits to keep pace with inflation, according to a report by the House Ways and Means Committee.</br></br>Using Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) statistics compiled by the Congressional Research Service, the committee said that in nominal dollars, the average monthly maximum benefit paid by states for a family of four with no other income rose from $225 to $366 between 1970 and the start of 1984.</br></br>AFDC benefit payable in the District of Columbia for a family of four declined 41 percent in purchasing power from 1970 to 1984. In Maryland the decline due to inflation was 31 percent and in Virginia 47 percent.</br></br>Under AFDC, the states set their own benefits levels and the federal goveniment reimburses them for a share of the cost, ranging from 50 to 78 percent. Poorer states get the higher share.</br></br>The Census Bureau recently cited the failure of the states to keep welfare payments in step with inflation as a major reason that the percentage of Americans in poverty had risen by about one-third from 1979 to 1982.