Timeline for the social welfare system

The nation's history of providing for the destitute dates to the colonial days when local relief laws were fashioned after the "Poor Laws" of England. Today's federal system of social welfare dates to the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Some significant milestones in the evolution of the U.S. welfare state:

• 1935: President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, providing incomes to retired workers age 65 and older. The law also created unemployment insurance and Aid to Dependent Children, the forerunner to today's welfare system.
• 1939: The first food stamp program was enacted. The program lasted until 1943.
• 1961: President Kennedy signs an executive order creating a pilot food stamp program.
• 1964: President Johnson signs the Food Stamp Act, making the program permanent.
• 1965: President Johnson signs the law that created Medicare, the government health insurance program for older people, and Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor.
• 1972: President Nixon signs the law creating Supplemental Security Income, which provides benefits to poor disabled people.
• 1996: President Clinton signs the welfare overhaul law, limiting cash welfare benefits for most recipients to five years. Some states enact shorter time limits.
• 2006: President Bush signs the law renewing welfare reform, enacting stricter work requirements for welfare recipients.

Sources: Social Security Administration; the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services.