TANF and Domestic Violence: Cash Assistance Matters to Survivors

Financial hardship and stress may increase the risk of domestic violence, making TANF a critical program to help survivors. This fact sheet provides a brief overview of the connections between domestic violence and poverty, including the impact on financial abuse when one partner maintains control over financial resources, making it difficult for the survivor to find work. It also stresses that domestic violence is higher among women with low incomes, people of color, and LGBTQ people. The fact sheet focuses on the role of cash assistance in enabling survivors to leave and not return to abuse relationships, and outlines ways that states can do more with existing TANF policy to help survivors improve existing TANF policy.