Fact Sheet: Victims of Domestic Violence and TANF Reauthorization

This fact sheet discusses the intersection between domestic violence and public assistance as an issue being considered by policy makers in the reauthorization of TANF. Over 60% of women receiving TANF have experienced physical abuse by an intimate partner. Thirty-percent of TANF recipients reported abuse within the last year. Research indicates only 1/3 of the decline in the welfare rolls can be attributed to a successful transition from welfare to financial independence. The number of impoverished families eligible but not receiving welfare has continued to increase, and many of the needs of battered women and children in poverty continue to be neglected.