Religion & Social Welfare

Ongoing debates regarding welfare reform and faith-based initiatives touch on a sensitive area of public discourse: how Americans should care for the poor and the needy. The creation of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives by President George W. Bush in 2001 brought the work of religious organizations to the forefront of this discussion. Policymakers and religious communities alike are still divided about the participation of faith-based organizations in the delivery of federally funded social services, but it appears that the faith-based initiative is likely to continue under President-elect Barack Obama.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama announced his support for partnerships "between the White House and grassroots groups, both faith-based and secular." Republican presidential nominee John McCain also had expressed his support for faith-based partnerships.

Americans strongly favor government aid to the poor. The Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted in the summer of 2007, found that 62% of Americans agree that the government should do more to help needy Americans, even if it means going deeper into debt. There is considerable agreement among members of major religious traditions, including the unaffiliated, on this point. But Americans are divided on who they think can do the best job of providing social services for the needy. According to an August 2008 survey by the Pew Forum and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, 31% of Americans say religious organizations can do the best job. The same number (31%) says federal and state government agencies can do the best job, and about as many (29%) say nonreligious, community-based organizations can do the best job.

Americans tend to support the idea of faith-based groups receiving government funding to provide social services. According to the August 2008 Pew survey, a solid majority of Americans (67%) favor allowing churches and other houses of worship to apply, along with other organizations, for government funding to provide social services. But Americans have concerns about government-funded organizations hiring only those who share their beliefs. Nearly three-quarters of Americans (73%) say religious organizations receiving government funds should not be allowed to hire only people who share their religious beliefs, and 61% oppose allowing groups that encourage religious conversion to apply for federal funding to provide social services.

The Pew Forum offers a variety of resources that examine the relationship between religious organizations, social service providers and government, including reports, polling data and event transcripts.

For research, analysis and news on faith-based social services during the administration of President George W. Bush, visit the archived website of The Roundtable on Religion & Social Welfare Policy, which tracked developments in faith-based social services from 2001-2008.

Resource Pages
Welfare Reform

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