This chapter presents an introduction to the Family Cap. The Family Cap or child exclusion attempted to reform welfare by targeting a woman’s decision to conceive and bring a baby to term while receiving benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Currently, twenty-three states have some form of Family Cap in place with most following the “gestation period” model first implemented by New Jersey in October 1992. Under this model, benefit caps apply to any child who is born ten or more months subsequent to the mother’s application for or receipt of TANF or AFDC. Since a woman must have given birth to a child (or children) in order to qualify for TANF/AFDC in the first place, Family Caps cannot be applied to a child (or children) born outside of welfare or to a child (or children) receiving benefits prior to a Cap’s implementation. Hence, Family Caps can only target subsequent births.
Keywords: welfare reform, child exclusion, benefit caps, Social Security, TANF,