Hillary Clinton is well-versed in child welfare issues, having devoted much of her career to them, and her views, at first glance, seem progressive. Her popular 1996 book, It Takes a Village, starts from the premise that “children will thrive only if their families thrive and if the whole of society cares enough to provide for them.” She emphasizes the need to give parents “the physical, financial, and emotional support they need to raise children well,” and argued that government “cannot retreat from its historic obligations to the poor and vulnerable.”

But these words are difficult to reconcile with Clinton’s actions in her long political career. Most troublesome is her support for the 1996 “welfare reform” act, which replaced the longstanding Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (AFDC) with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).

In a chapter she wrote for a 1979 book on children’s rights, she urges the development of “a family policy in this country that provides stigma-free assistance to families in trouble.” Yet TANF is one of the most stigmatizing programs we have.