Total spending on AFDC/TANF in constant dollars, divided by the country’s total population.
Calculated by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, using TANF financial data from the Administration for Children and Families and from the Indicators of Welfare Dependence reports, and U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates.
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) is a federal program that gives cash assistance and other forms of aid to low-income families with children. In 1997, TANF replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which had similar goals.
Expenditures cover all program costs (including administrative costs), not only cash assistance and spending in other forms of aid. Expenditures are adjusted for inflation using the Bureau of Economic Analysis price index for Gross Domestic Product. See National Income and Product Accounts.