Table 1.

Important Dates in the History of the U.S. Transfer System

Date	Event
Beginnings
1935	Creation of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Old-Age Social Security program, and Unemployment Insurance
1956	Creation of the Social Security Disability Program
Great Expansion
1964	Formation of Food Stamp program
1965	Creation of Medicare and Medicaid programs
1965	Creation of Head Start program
1966	School Breakfast and School Lunch programs formalized
1972	Congress creates the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program
1975	Creation of the Women’s, Infants, and Children (WIC) program
1975	Congress legislates the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
Contractionary Developments
1971–1972	President Nixon’s Family Assistant Plan fails in Congress
Late 1970s	President Carter’s expansionary welfare reform plans fail
1980	Ronald Reagan elected President after campaign proposing retrenchment
1984	Charles Murray publishes Losing Ground
1988	President George H. Bush’s expansionary work-based welfare reform plan passes Congress but later is judged a failure
1996	President Clinton oversees the most contractionary welfare reform in modern U.S. history