In 1995, 9.5 percent, or about 450,000, of the families on welfare included a member who worked. In more than 50 percent of the families, the children were born out of wedlock. Just over half of the recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children graduated from high school. AFDC comprises less than 1 percent of the federal budget. Defense gets 16 percent of the money, Medicare and Medicaid 17 percent and Social Security 22 percent.
Welfare benefits vary widely from state to state.
Benefits are uneven because states supplemented federal welfare with their own money. This has led to huge differences in monthly benefits. These disparities largely will continue with the block grants each state will get under the new welfare law because the size of the block grants is based on a calculation that includes the amount a state previously paid in benefits. Theoretically, they could. Some states worry that they will be magnets for recipients if their benefits are more generous than their neighbors'.