ABSTRACT
Welfare has become the political weapon of choice. Social problems ranging from poverty and crime to drug abuse and dropouts are blamed on the welfare system and welfare recipients. One specific program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), has gained the dubious distinction of becoming synonymous with public aid and is deemed the specific culprit of much that troubles America. The cost of AFDC to federal and state governments reached $25.5 billion in 1991. The amount appears staggering and is used repeatedly to rally antiwelfare forces. But this sum is deceptive. In 1991, AFDC accounted for less than 1 percent of federal and 2.2 percent of state expenditures. Nationally, less than one out of four AFDC families lives in rent-subsidized or public housing. Most AFDC families must therefore attempt to find affordable housing in the same private housing market as those with considerably higher incomes.
