A patchy record at 20

WHAT duty does a rich society have to its poorest members? The answer in America’s welfare reform of 1996, the 20th anniversary of which falls on August 22nd, was that it has an obligation to help the poorest into work. The new law changed the lives of millions of Americans. Its effects were also felt beyond America’s borders, as European countries copied “workfare” and middle-income countries like Mexico and Brazil attached strings to cash payments for the poorest.