<P> In more recent times, comparing the Cameron--Clegg coalition's austerity measures with the Opposition's, the respected Financial Times commentator Martin Wolf commented that the "big shift from Labour...is the cuts in welfare benefits ." The government's austerity programme, which involves reduction in government policy, has been linked to a rise in food banks . A study published in the British Medical Journal in 2015 found that each 1 percentage point increase in the rate of Jobseeker's Allowance claimants sanctioned was associated with a 0.09 percentage point rise in food bank use . The austerity programme has faced opposition from disability rights groups for disproportionately affecting disabled people . The "bedroom tax" is an austerity measure that has attracted particular criticism, with activists arguing that two thirds of council houses affected by the policy are occupied with a person with a disability . </P> <P> In the United States, depending on the context, the term "welfare" can be used to refer to means - tested cash benefits, especially the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and its successor, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant, or it can be used to refer to all means - tested programs that help individuals or families meet basic needs, including, for example, health care through Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits and food and nutrition programs (SNAP). It can also include Social Insurance programs such as Unemployment Insurance, Social Security, and Medicare . </P> <P> AFDC (originally called Aid to Dependent Children) was created during the Great Depression to alleviate the burden of poverty for families with children and allow widowed mothers to maintain their households . The New Deal employment program such as the Works Progress Administration primarily served men . Prior to the New Deal, anti-poverty programs were primarily operated by private charities or state or local governments; however, these programs were overwhelmed by the depth of need during the Depression . The United States has no national program of cash assistance for non-disabled poor individuals who are not raising children . </P> <P> Race is brought up constantly in policies as to categorize whether it is a Black or White issue and in welfare's history there's a switch in the way the public is educated through news media . Until early in the year of 1965, the news media was conveying only Whites as living in poverty however that perception had changed to Blacks . Some of the influences in this shift could have been the civil rights movement and urban riots from the mid 60s . Welfare had then shifted from being a White issue to a Black issue and during this time frame the war on poverty had already begun . Subsequently, news media portrayed stereotypes of Blacks as lazy, undeserving and welfare queens . These shifts in media don't necessarily establish the population living in poverty decreasing . </P>

When did the welfare system began in the us