Sociální ne(podpora) rodin ve Spojených státech amerických za administrativy prezidenta Billa Clintona

This thesis examines the social policy of the United States during the administration of President Bill Clinton (1993–2001), focusing on its impact on the socio-economic status of American families, particularly low-income households. At first it defines family policy within the liberal welfare-state model and introduces the ideological framework of the Third Way that shaped Clinton's reform priorities. It then analyses the key legislative changes, notably the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, which replaced the entitlement-based AFDC programme with the time-limited and work-conditioned TANF, the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the introduction of the Child Tax Credit, and the establishment of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In its empirical part, the thesis conducts a quantitative analysis of federal social expenditures, effective tax burdens on families, median family income, poverty rates among families with children, and welfare caseloads. The analysis shows that key indicators developed favorably during 1993–2001. Real median family income increased by 15.9%, the poverty rate of families with children declined by 5.8 percentage points, the total effective federal tax rate for the lowest quintile of households with children decreased from 7.5% to 3.4%, and the number of families receiving cash assistance fell by more than half. At the same time, the analysis reveals significant structural limitations. Based on the author's own calculations, the coverage ratio of poor families by the TANF programme dropped from 65% to 31%, income inequality remained unchanged, and a growing group of so- called disconnected mothers emerged who lacked both earnings and benefits. The hypothesis of the thesis was thus confirmed only partially, not unconditionally. At the aggregate level, the reforms demonstrably improved the economic status of American families; however, the observed improvements were inseparably linked to exceptionally favorable macroeconomic conditions, and the most vulnerable households were, as a consequence of the reform, left beyond the reach of both the labor market and the social safety net.