1. THE PARADOXICAL ERA 1968-1980 By: Morgan Hess

2. WELFARE POLICES Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) (1975) Workers who earned less than $4,000/yr. were given a tax credit which was equivalent to 10% of their earnings. First legislation to use the tax system as a way to give resources to the poor. Medicaid & Abortion Result of backlash from the Supreme Court Case, Roe v. Wade (1973) Legislation was enacted to allow Medicaid to be used for abortions only in two circumstances: (1) If the female’s life was endangered by Child Birth or (2) within 72hrs of a rape or incest. Lead to a drop of gov’t financed abortions Supplementary Security Income (SSI) Enacted in 1972, during Nixon’s first term Provides income to those who are low income, 65 years or older, blind and/or disabled Administered by Social Security Administration; elderly citizens no longer received financial support from welfare offices = abled them to avoid stigma associated with it. Expanded Food Stamp Program ( 1970 & 1973) Before: it only addressed nutritional needs of only a small fraction of hungry Americans After: established national eligibility standards. Made Participation mandatory for all states. Devised a new benefit schedule that gave more benefits to large families and those that had no earned income. Resulted in a large amount of the working poor to use this program (10.4 million enrollees in 1970 to 19.4 million in 1980). Adoption Assistance & Child Welfare Act of 1980 Provided Federal subsidies to families that adopted children Required states to maintain status reports on all children in foster care Allowed children to be later placed for adoption or returned to their parents w/in specified time limits. Encouraged local child welfare agencies to pursue adoptions for children who were older, of color & with disabilities.

3. RESULTS Due to the enactment of several policies during this time, poverty decreased. Poverty rate declined from 14.2 % in 1967 to 11.1% in 1979. However, when programs like Food Stamps and Medicaid were included, the poverty rate dropped even more to a 6.4 % in 1979.

4. POLICIES STILL IN PLACE TODAY -Indexing Social Security benefits to inflation -Federal Block Grants with the Housing & Community Development Act of 1974 -Supplemental Security Income Program -Earned Income Tax Credit of 1975 -Tile XX of the Social Security Act to fund social service programs of states -Housing subsidies established by H&C Development Act of 1974 -Affirmative action in wake of Supreme Court decision in Regents of the University of Cali v. Bakke. -Equal Employment Act of 1972 -Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) of 1970. -Expansion of Eligibility & Benefits of the Food Stamp Program -Full Employment & Balanced Growth Act of 1978 -Prohibition of Funding of Abortions by Medicaid under the Hyde Amendment -Adoption Assistance & Child Welfare Act of 1980 -Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 -Rehabilitation Act of 1973 -Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 -Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 -Child Abuse Prevention Act of 1974 -Establishment of Federal Office of Education

5. QUESTION *Which one of the following answers was the First Legislation to use tax systems as a method for giving resources to the poor? (Jansson 2012, page 300). a.Supplementary Security Income (SSI) b.AFDC-U c.Social Security d.Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC )

6. ANSWER *D It demonstrated that tax policy could be used to decrease poverty without stigmatizing individuals by having to visit Welfare Offices. Reduced stigma because there was now a belief that individuals were entitled to their benefits.