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Myth: Most poor moms are on welfare. It is true that the majority of [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] (TANF)’s clients are women and children, but most poor families never receive any assistance at all. In 2010, there were about 78 million families in the United States. Just over 9 million families (about 12%) were officially in poverty, but about 28% of families qualified as in poverty or near-poor. While some 20-odd million families were poor or near-poor and thus arguably in need of some kind of assistance, very few were poor enough to be eligible for TANF, and of those families eligible for TANF, only 1.9 million were actually receiving TANF in 2011. Since the welfare reform of 1996, participation by eligible families has plummeted: 84% of those families in need received ADC in 1995, dropping to 52% receiving TANF in 2000, and only 40% in 2005. Most poor moms, whether single or married, are not on welfare.