Economic Inequality review question?

[wattekinson86]

I have been doing these questions all day for midterm reviews. This is the only one I need help with. I hope.
Thank you

The New York Times declared a major change in the allocation of welfare spending underway since the1996 Welfare Reform Act went into law:

"shifting money from cash assistance into child care, education, training and other services intended to help poor people get jobs and stay off welfare….The money is being used to pay for transportation from home to work, to treat drug abuse and mental health problems and to provide temporary shelter for women who have suffered domestic violence. The money is also used for one–time payments — for example, for car repairs — to alleviate immediate financial needs, so people never go on the welfare rolls." (Pear, Robert, "Welfare Spending Shows Huge Shift." New York Times October 13, 2003).
This new procedure is in contrast to the pre–1996 pattern of simply giving cash to qualified recipients.


Define "The Big Tradeoff."
Explain how the change in the allocation of welfare spending since 1996 improves the terms of "The Big Tradeoff," making equity a little less expensive than before.