Welfare programs in the United States provide assistance to low-income families, especially children living in poverty. The six major welfare programs are EITC, housing assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, and TANF. These welfare programs differ from entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security.

What is welfare called now?

What is California CalWORKs (TANF)? CalWORKs is a welfare program that gives cash aid and services to eligible needy California families. The program serves all 58 counties in the state and is operated locally by county welfare departments.

What replaced welfare?

Twenty years ago, the federal government took a pretty simple cash welfare system — if you were poor and had children, you were guaranteed a welfare check — and replaced it with a program called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.