The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliatory Act of 1996 (PRWORA) greatly reformed welfare by requiring recipients to find employment in exchange for limited assistance from the state. This policy reflected the prominent racial attitude that black women were abusing the welfare system and having multiple children out of wedlock, ignoring the structural issues that low income black women encountered that prevented them from gaining access to decent health care and employment that pays a livable wage.

XREF: Relates to broader literature on the racialized moral panic fueling 1990s welfare reform and the 'welfare queen' trope.

Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, loc. 75