Federal social assistance

Because states have wide discretion in TANF policy, differences across states have emerged in legal and administrative practices regarding instruments for activation. These include things like time limits, work requirements, supportive services, financial work incentives, sanctions, and transition benefits. Researchers have predicted 

Earnings disregards have not been found to be a major financial incentive against either TANF receipt, or benefit duration. However, they do appear to have positive impacts on labor supply, earnings of welfare recipients, and working TANF participants self sufficiency. Grogger and Karoly (2005) predict similar labour supply effects for w ork requirements, but work requirements have not been found to have a direct effect on participants income in most cases. 

when strictly enforced, sanctions can contribute to case load reductions and savings in assistance payments. Sanctions force participants to work, so that labour supply should be rising while benefit duration is falling. However, sanctions have been found to negatively affect income and self-sufficiency of welfare households. 

Supportive services, like child care, transportation, job training, and job counselling are likely to have different effects depending on the level and duration of such services. Short-term welfare expenditures will rise since supportive services are expensive, and there are not likely to be immediate effects on employment and earnings. Long term, however, supportive services should cause case load declines, reductions in benefit duration, and have positive effects on the labour market success and welfare families self-sufficiency (Table 44). 

Since these activation policies have normally been implemented by states as a group, empirical research must carefully separate out the affect of each separate intervention (Ochel 2004). Grogger and Karoly (2005) present a graphical analysis of these factors using the economic model of a utility maximising consumer-worker. In the following sub-sections we examine the legal and administrative means 

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TANF is the main federal social assistance programme in the US, but not the largest.67 TANF is a federal block-grant programme states can qualify for a State Family Assistance Grant (SFAG) by transmitting a so-called TANF state plan to the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).68... 

From these arguments it may be inferred that basic security benefits do not come under the property guarantee of Art. 14 GG. They are not based on substantial personal contributions because they are granted from tax revenues in the form of welfare benefits, irrespective of any previously paid contributions. This was confirmed by the most recent judgment of the Federal Social Court. It was made clear that eamings-related unemployment assistance could be replaced by flat-rate UB II. As both benefits are means-tested and tax-funded, the property guarantee of social insurance does not apply. 

Basic income for needy jobseekers ensues from the concurrent legislative power in respect of public welfare under Art. 74(1) no. 7 GG. In the case of persons capable of working, this basic security for jobseekers supersedes both the public welfare benefit of unemployment assistance and that of social assistance. The uniform federal regulation is deemed necessary both for the establishment of equal living conditions and for the maintenance of legal and economic unity. 

While the federal burden of funding of ALG II, related employment services and housing costs went up, municipal responsibility for the implementation of labour market policy increased. The municipalities can free-ride in their decisions at the expense of the state budget. As the municipalities maintain the financial responsibility for income support for persons who are not able to work (social assistance), the municipalities have an incentive to shift costs by classifying persons as being able to work who would otherwise obtain municipal social assistance. Indeed, in 2005 more than 90% of the former SA recipients were assessed to be capable of working and therefore transferred to the federal funded ALG II system. 

The Swiss welfare state can be described as a multi-tiered welfare state. The bulk of social expenditure is controlled by the federal level and assigned to core social programmes such as old age and invalidity pension and unemployment insurance. The Cantons and the municipalities, however, have kept substantial powers in some important fields of social policy, including family policy, and - most importantly as far as activation is concerned - social assistance (see Obinger 1998 Armingeon et al. 2002). 

The cantons (and the municipalities, where applicable) certainly have an interest in leading social assistance recipients back into employment, but a second best option for them is to have them relying on a federal income replacement scheme unemployment or invalidity insurance.3 Regional placement offices, responsible for... 

The considerable increase in invalidity insurance beneficiaries and, hence, in the costs sustained by this branch of social insurance over the past decade (see Sect. 4.2) can be explained only partly by migration into this system on account of more favourable benefits (especially vis-a-vis social assistance benefits) and by its more lenient sanctioning regime. Even so, a correlation is evident. The federal legislator has therefore introduced extensive amendments (5th IVG/LAI Revision). The main emphasis of these new rales, apart from changes to the cash benefit scheme for the purpose of eliminating certain incentives, has now been placed on... 

As already mentioned, the role of the cantons is even more important in the area of unemployment assistance and social assistance, where no federal schemes exist, and cantons thus enjoy a large autonomy in the design of their local schemes and the management of activation. Once again, differences in local socio-economic situation and their impact on local schemes must not be underestimated. For example, the share of population on social assistance in 2004 ranged between 0.6 (Appenzell Inner Rhodes) and 6.5% (Basel-City) (OFS 2006). 

In Switzerland, apart from the Federal constitution and the constitutions of the cantons, the rules on unemployment and insolvency insurance and the respective regulations, the invalidity insurance and the case law of the Federal Insurance Court are of peculiar importance. In addition, activation plays a role in the measures based on social assistance law of the cantons. The influence of the cantons has formed to a great extent the law on social assistance. 

Institute for Urban Economics, Independent Institute for Social Policy, and Urban Institute. 2006. Russian Federation Policy Note on Good Practices and Lessons Generated by Reforms to Improve Social Assistance. Unpublished report. Moscow Institute for Urban Economics. 

The NMFS role in fisheries development is catalytic in nature by encouraging and assisting in the achievement of full utilization of U.S. fishery resources to derive maximum economic and social benefits from those resources under U.S. jurisdiction. In practical terms, this will require greater initiative on the part of the commercial and recreational fishing industries to utilize America s non-traditional fish species, while the Federal Government will work to reduce foreign fishing in our fishery conservation zone and remove or reduce other impediments. 

Medicaid A government medical assistance program that pays for medical expenses for the poor and certain other classes of uninsured people, established by the Title XIX of the Social Security Act of 1965. Each State administers its own program. Medicaid is funded by both the State and Federal governments. 

Prospective Payment Assessment Commission (ProPAC) a federal commission established under the Social Security Act amendments of 1983 to advise and assist Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services in maintaining and updating the Medicare prospective payment system. 

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