As a responsibility of state government, social welfare came late to Georgia. The state waited two years before agreeing to participate in the federal Social Security system in 1937. Eighteen years later, Georgia was distributing only $62 million to the aged, blind, and disabled, and to families with dependent children. By 1970, the amount had risen to $150 million, but the state still lagged far behind the national average.
In 2001, the average weekly unemployment benefit was $228.90. Average monthly participation in the food stamp program in FY2002 comprised 645,633 persons (263,076 households). The average monthly benefit was $80.19, and the sum total of benefits paid in FY2002 was $621,290,583.
With the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the US government has changed the form and regulations for many of its social welfare programs. Most significantly, it replaces Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), an open-ended entitlement program, with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a limited system of assistance funded largely through federal block grants. The reform act also impacts the food stamp program, the Supplemental Security Income program, and the child nutrition program. The law took effect on 1 July 1997 and provided $16.38 billion in block grants for fiscal years 1997–2002. The grants are to be divided among the states based on an equation involving the numbers of former AFDC recipients in each state.
Reauthorization of the 1996 social welfare legislation, scheduled for 2002, was delayed, and the original law had been extended three times as of July 2003, with the most recent extension running through September 2003. In June 2000 the state had 135,381welfare recipients. State expenditures on the TANF program in FY2002 totaled $175,261,929.
In December 2001, Social Security benefits were paid to 1,125,190 Georgians. This number included 661,970 retired workers, 122,360 widows and widowers, 164,730 disabled workers, 571960 spouses, and 118,940 children. Social Security beneficiaries represented 13.4% of the total state population and 91.4% of the state's population age 65 and older. Retired workers (excluding persons with special benefits) received an average monthly payment of $844; widows and widowers, $752; disabled workers, $794; and spouses, $425. Payments for children of retired workers averaged $420 per month; children of deceased workers, $547; and children of disabled workers, $241.
Federal Supplemental Security Income payments in December 2001 went to 198,063 Georgia residents, averaging $338 a month.