420 U.S.

575
95 S.Ct. 1180
43 L.Ed.2d 469

Kevin J. BURNS, etc., et al., Petitioners,

v.
Linda ALCALA et al.
No. 731708.
Argued Jan. 22, 1975.
Decided March 18, 1975.

Syllabus
For the purposes of eligibility for benefits under the Aid to Families with
Dependent Children (AFDC) program, 406(a) of the Social Security Act
defines 'dependent child' as 'a needy child (1) who has been deprived of
parental support or care by reason of the death, continued absence from
the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent, and who is living
with his father, mother,' or certain other designated relatives, and (2) who
is under the age of 18, or under the age of 21 and a student. Held: The
term 'dependent child,' as so defined, does not include unborn children,
and hence States receiving federal financial aid under the AFDC program
are not required to offer welfare benefits to pregnant women for their
unborn children. Pp. 578-586.
(a) Under the axiom that words used in a statute are to be given their
ordinary meaning absent persuasive reasons to the contrary, and reading
the definition of 'dependent child' in its statutory context, it is apparent
that Congress used the word 'child' to refer to an individual already born,
with an existence separate from its mother. Pp. 580-581.
(b) This conclusion is also supported by the limited purpose of the AFDC
program to substitute for the practice of removing needy children from
their homes, and to free widowed and divorced mothers from the
necessity of working, so that they could remain home to supervise their
children, and by the fact that the Social Security Act also provides federal
funding for prenatal and postnatal health services to mothers and infants,
explicitly designed to reduce infant and maternal mortality, rather than for

'maternity benefits' to support expectant mothers. Pp. 581-584.

(c) The doctrine that accords weight to consistent administrative
interpretation of a statute does not apply to a Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare (HEW) regulation allowing States the option of
paying AFDC benefits to pregnant women on behalf of unborn children,
where HEW says that the regulation is not based on a construction of the
term 'dependent child' but on HEW's general authority to make rules for
efficient administration of the Act, and where legislative history tends to
rebut the claim that Congress by silence has acquiesced in the view that
unborn children qualify for AFDC payments. Pp. 584-586.
494 F.2d 743, 8 Cir., reversed and remanded.
Richard C. Turner, Des Moines, Iowa, for petitioners.
Robert Bartels, Iowa City, Iowa, for respondents.
Mr. Justice POWELL delivered the opinion of the Court.

The question presented by this case is whether States receiving federal financial
aid under the program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
must offer welfare benefits to pregnant women for their unborn children. As the
case comes to this Court, the issue is solely one of statutory interpretation.

* Respondents, residents of Iowa, were pregnant at the time they filed this
action. Their circumstances were such that their children would be eligible for
AFDC benefits upon birth. They applied for welfare assistance but were
refused on the ground that they had no 'dependent children' eligible for the
AFDC program. Respondents then filed this action against petitioners, Iowa
welfare officials. On behalf of themselves and other women similarly situated,
respondents contended that the Iowa policy of denying benefits to unborn
children conflicted with the federal standard of eligibility under 406(a) of the
Social Security Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 606(a), and resulted in a denial of
due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.1 The
District Court certified the class and granted declaratory and injunctive relief.
The court held that unborn children are 'dependent children' within the meaning
of 406(a) and that by denying them AFDC benefits Iowa had departed
impermissibly from the federal standard of eligibility. The District Court did not
reach respondents' constitutional claims. 362 F.Supp. 180 (SD Iowa 1973). The
Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit affirmed. 494 F.2d 743 (1974). We
granted certiorari to resolve the conflict among the federal courts that have

considered the question.2 419 U.S. 823, 95 S.Ct. 39, 42 L.Ed.2d 47. We
conclude that the statutory term 'dependent child' does not include unborn
children, and we reverse.
II
3

The Court has held that under 402(a)(10) of the Social Security Act, 42
U.S.C. 602(a)(10), federal participation in state AFDC programs is
conditioned on the State's offering benefits to all persons who are eligible
under federal standards. The State must provide benefits to all individuals who
meet the federal definition of 'dependent child' and who are 'needy' under state
standards, unless they are excluded or aid is made optional by another
provision of the Act. New York Dept. of Social Services v. Dublino, 413 U.S.
405, 421422, 93 S.Ct. 2507, 25162517, 37 L.Ed.2d 688 (1973); Carleson
v. Remillard, 406 U.S. 598, 92 S.Ct. 1932, 32 L.Ed.2d 352 (1972); Townsend
v. Swank, 404 U.S. 282, 92 S.Ct. 502, 30 L.Ed.2d 448 (1971); King v. Smith,
392 U.S. 309, 88 S.Ct. 2128, 20 L.Ed.2d 1118 (1968). The definition of
'dependent child' appears in 406(a) of the Act:

'The term 'dependent child' means a needy child (1) who has been deprived of
parental support or care by reason of the death, continued absence from the
home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent, and who is living with his
father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, stepfather, stepmother,
stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, or niece, in a place of
residence maintained by one or more of such relatives as his or their own home,
and (2) who is (A) under the age of eighteen, or (B) under the age of twentyone and (as determined by the State in accordance with standards prescribed by
the Secretary) a student regularly attending a school, college, or university, or
regularly attending a course of vocational or technical training designed to fit
him for gainful employment . . ..' 42 U.S.C. 606(a).

The section makes no mention of pregnant women or unborn children as such.

Respondents contend, citing dictionary definitions,3 that the word 'child' can be
used to include unborn children. This is enough, they say, to make the statute
ambiguous and to justify construing the term 'dependent child' in light of
legislative purposes and administrative interpretation.4 They argue that both
factors support their position in this case. First, paying benefits to needy
pregnant women would further the purpose of the AFDC program because it
would enable them to safeguard the health of their children through prenatal
care and adequate nutrition. Second, for over 30 years the Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) has offered States an option to claim

federal matching funds for AFDC payments to pregnant women.5

7

* Several of the courts that have faced this issue have read King, Townsend,
and Carleson, supra, to establish a special rule of construction applicable to
Social Security Act provisions governing AFDC eligibility. They have held that
persons who are arguably included in the federal eligibility standard must be
deemed eligible unless the Act or its legislative history clearly exhibits an intent
to exclude them from coverage in effect creating a presumption of coverage
when the statute is ambiguous. See Carver v. Hooker, 369 F.Supp. 204, 210
215 (NH 1973), aff'd, 501 F.2d 1244 (CA1 1974); Stuart v. Canary, 367
F.Supp. 1343, 1345 (ND Ohio 1973); Green v. Stanton, 364 F.Supp. 123, 125
126 (ND Ind.1973), aff'd sub nom. Wilson v. Weaver, 499 F.2d 155 (CA7
1974). But see Mixon v. Keller, 372 F.Supp. 51, 55 (MD Fla.1974). This
departure from ordinary principles of statutory interpretation is not supported
by the Court's prior decisions. King, Townsend, and Carleson establish only
that once the federal standard of eligibility is defined, a participating State may
not deny aid to persons who come within it in the absence of a clear indication
that Congress meant the coverage to be optional. The method of analysis used
to define the federal standard of eligibility is no different from that used in
solving any other problem of statutory construction.

Our analysis of the Social Security Act does not support a conclusion that the
legislative definition of 'dependent child' includes unborn children. Following
the axiom that words used in a statute are to be given their ordinary meaning in
the absence of persuasive reasons to the contrary, Banks v. Chicago Grain
Trimmers, 390 U.S. 459, 465, 88 S.Ct. 1140, 1144, 20 L.Ed.2d 30 (1968);
Minor v. Mechanics Bank of Alexandria, 1 Pet. 46, 64, 7 L.Ed. 47 (1828), and
reading the definition of 'dependent child' in its statutory context, we conclude
that Congress used the word 'child' to refer to an individual already born, with
an existence separate from its mother.

As originally enacted in 1935, the Social Security Act made no provision for
the needs of the adult taking care of a 'dependent child.' It authorized aid only
for the child and offered none to support the mother.6 C. 531, 406, 49 Stat.
629. The Act expressly contemplated that the first eligible child in a family
would receive greater benefits than succeeding children, recognizing the lower
per capita cost of support in families with more than one child, 403(a), but the
Act included no similar provision recognizing the incremental cost to a
pregnant woman of supporting her 'child.' The Act also spoke of children 'living
with' designated relatives, 406(a), and referred to residency requirements
dependent on the child's place of birth. At 402(b). These provisions would
apply awkwardly, if at all, to pregnant women and unborn children. The failure

to provide explicitly for the special circumstances of pregnant women strongly

suggests that Congress had no thought of providing AFDC benefits to
'dependent children' before birth.7
10

The purposes of the Act also are persuasive. The AFDC program was originally
conceived to substitute for the practice of removing needy children from their
homes and placing them in institutions, and to free widowed and divorced
mothers from the necessity of working, so that they could remain home to
supervise their children. This purpose is expressed clearly in President
Roosevelt's message to Congress recommending the legislation, H.R.Doc. No.
81, 74th Cong., 1st Sess., 2930 (1935), and in committee reports in both
Houses of Congress, S.Rep. No. 628, 74th Cong., 1st Sess., 1617 (1935);
H.R.Rep. No. 615, 74th Cong., 1st Sess., 10 (1935). See Wisdom v. Norton,
507 F.2d 750, 754755 (CA2 1974); Note, Eligibility of the Unborn for
AFDC Benefits: The Statutory and Constitutional Issues, 54 B.U.L.Rev. 945,
955958 (1974). The restricted purpose of the AFDC program is evidenced in
the Act itself by the limitations on aid. The Act originally authorized aid only
for children living with designated relatives.8 The list of relatives has grown,
supra, at 578, but there is still no general provision for AFDC payments to
needy children living with distant relatives or unrelated persons, or in
institutions.9

11

Congress did not ignore the needs of pregnant women or the desirability of
adequate prenatal care. In Title V of the Social Security Act, now codified as 42
U.S.C. 701708 (1970 ed. and Supp. III). Congress provided federal
funding for prenatal and postnatal health services to mothers and infants,
explicitly designed to reduce infant and maternal mortality.10 See S.Rep. No.
628, supra, at 20. In selecting this form of aid for pregnant women, Congress
had before it proposals to follow the lead of some European countries that
provided 'maternity benefits' to support expectant mothers for a specified period
before and after childbirth. Hearings on S. 1130 before the Senate Committee
on Finance, 74th Cong., 1st Sess., 182, 965971 (1935). If Congress had
intended to include a similar program in the Social Security Act, it very likely
would have done so explicitly rather than by relying on the term 'dependent
child,' at best a highly ambiguous way to refer to unborn children.

B
12

Respondents have also relied on HEW's regulation allowing payment of AFDC

benefits on behalf of unborn children. They ask us to defer to the agency's longstanding interpretation of the statute it administers. Respondents have provided
the Court with copies of letters and interoffice memoranda that preceded

adoption of this policy in 1941 by HEW's predecessor, the Bureau of Public

Assistance. These papers suggest that the agency initially may have taken the
position that the statutory phrase 'dependent children' included unborn
children.11
13

A brief filed by the Solicitor General on behalf of HEW in this case disavows
respondents' interpretation of the Act. HEW contends that unborn children are
not included in the federal eligibility standard and that the regulation
authorizing federal participation in AFDC payments to pregnant women is
based on the agency's general authority to make rules for efficient
administration of the Act. 42 U.S.C. 1302. The regulation is consistent with
this explanation. It appears in a subsection with other rules authorizing
temporary aid, at the option of the States, to individuals in the process of
gaining or losing eligibility for the AFDC program. For example, one of the
accompanying rules authorizes States to pay AFDC benefits to a relative 30
days before the eligible child comes to live in his home. 45 CFR 233.90(c)
(2). HEW's current explanation of the regulation deprives respondents'
argument of any significant support from the principle that accords persuasive
weight to a consistent, longstanding interpretation of a statute by the agency
charged with its administration. See FMB v. Isbrandtsen Co., 356 U.S. 481, 499
500, 78 S.Ct. 851, 862, 2 L.Ed.2d 926 (1958); Burnet v. Chicago Portrait
Co., 285 U.S. 1, 16, 52 S.Ct. 275, 280, 76 L.Ed. 587 (1932).

14

Nor can respondents make a convincing claim of congressional acquiescence in

HEW's prior policy. In 1972, in the context of major Social Security legislation,
both Houses of Congress passed bills to revise the AFDC system. One section
of the bill passed in the Senate would have amended the definition of
'dependent child' expressly to exclude unborn children. H.R. 1, 92d Cong., 1st
Sess. (1972) (as amended by Senate); 118 Cong.Rec. 33990, 33995 (1972); see
S.Rep. No. 921230, pp. 108, 467 (1972). The House bill would have
substituted an entirely new definition of eligibility under the Administration's
'Family Assistance Plan.' H.R. 1, 92d Cong., 1st Sess. (1972); 117 Cong.Rec.
21450, 21463 (1971). The accompanying committee report specified that under
the new definition unborn children would not be eligible for aid. H.R.Rep. No.
92231, p. 184 (1971). Both bills passed the respective Houses of Congress,
but none of the AFDC amendments appeared in the final legislation, Pub.L. 92
603, 86 Stat. 1329, because the House and Senate conferees were unable to
agree on the underlying principle of welfare reform. All efforts to amend
AFDC were postponed for another session of Congress. See 118 Cong.Rec.
3681336825, 36926 36936 (1972); Mixon v. Keller, 372 F.Supp., at 55.
Under the circumstances, failure to enact the relatively minor provision relating
to unborn children cannot be regarded as approval of HEW's practice of

allowing optional benefits. To the extent this legislative history sheds any light
on congressional intent, it tends to rebut the claim that Congress by silence has
acquiesced in the former HEW view that unborn children are eligible for AFDC
payments.12
C
15

In this case respondents did not, and perhaps could not, challenge HEW's policy
of allowing States the option of paying AFDC benefits to pregnant women. We
therefore have no occasion to decide whether HEW has statutory authority to
approve federal participation in state programs ancillary to those expressly
provided in the Social Security Act, see Wisdom v. Norton, 507 F.2d, at 756, or
whether 42 U.S.C. 1302 authorizes HEW to fund benefits for unborn children
as a form of temporary aid to individuals who are in the process of qualifying
under federal standards. See Parks v. Harden, 504 F.2d 861, 875877 (CA5
1974) (Ainsworth, J., dissenting).

III
16

Neither the District Court nor the Court of Appeals considered respondents'
constitutional arguments. Rather than decide those questions here, where they
have not been briefed and argued, we remand the case for consideration of the
equal protection and due process issues that were raised but not decided below.

17

Reversed and remanded.

18

Mr. Justice DOUGLAS took no part in the consideration or decision of this

case.

19

Mr. Justice MARSHALL, dissenting.

20

As the majority implicitly acknowledges, the evidence available to help resolve

the issue of statutory construction presented by this case does not point
decisively in either direction. When it passed the Social Security Act in 1935
Congress gave no indication that it meant to include or exclude unborn children
from the definition of 'dependent child.' Nor has it shed any further light on the
question other than to consider, and fail to pass, legislation that would
indisputably have excluded unborn children from coverage.

21

The majority has parsed the language and touched on the legislative history of
the Act in an effort to muster support for the view that unborn children were not

meant to benefit from the Act. Even given its best face, however, this evidence
provides only modest support for the majority's position. The lengthy course of
administrative practice cuts quite the other way. Although the question is a
close one, I agree with the conclusion reached by five of the six Courts of
Appeals that have considered this issue,1 and would accordingly affirm the
judgment below.
22

The majority makes only passing reference to the administrative practice of 30

years' duration, under which unborn children were deemed eligible for federal
AFDC payments where state programs provided funds for them. According to
the majority, this longstanding administrative practice is deprived of any
significant weight by HEW's present suggestion that it has always treated
unborn children as being outside the statutory definition of 'dependent child.'
The agency's characterization of its former position, however, misrepresents the
history of the administrative practice.

23

As early as 1941 the Bureau of Public Assistance faced the problem of whether
unborn children were covered by 406(a) of the Act. At that time, the Board
determined that under the Act federal funds could be provided to the States for
aid to unborn children. The agency's governing regulation in the HEW
Handbook of Public Assistance Administration expressly included unborn
children among those eligible for aid 'on the basis of the same eligibility
conditions as apply to other children.' Pt. IV, 3412(6) (1946). The language of
the regulation and the inclusion of unborn children among five other classes of
children eligible for AFDC payments under the definition of 'dependent child'
make it evident that the agency deemed unborn children to come within the
terms of 406(a) of the Act. 2

24

This regulation remained unchanged until 1971, when it was placed in the Code
of Federal Regulations as 4 CFR 233.90(c)(2)(ii). Although its language was
altered somewhat, the regulation still provided that, in electing States, federal
participation would be available for unborn children once the fact of pregnancy
was confirmed by medical diagnosis. It was only when a series of lawsuits were
filed seeking to have AFDC made available to unborn children in those States
that did not provide for them in their local AFDC plans that the agency
contended that unborn children were not really within the eligibility provisions
of 406(a) after all.

25

After this Court's decisions in King v. Smith, 392 U.S. 309, 88 S.Ct. 2128, 20
L.Ed.2d 1118 (1968), Townsend v. Swank, 404 U.S. 282, 92 S.Ct. 502, 30
L.Ed.2d 448 (1971), and Carleson v. Remillard, 406 U.S. 598, 92 S.Ct. 1932,
32 L.Ed.2d 352 (1972), it appeared obvious that if any class of potential

beneficiaries was within the Act's eligibility provisions, the States were
required to provide aid to them. Thus, if HEW had chosen to stick with its
previous interpretation that unborn children were within the eligibility provision
of 406(a), it would have had to require that all participating States grant
benefits for unborn children. On the other hand, if it were determined that
unborn children were not eligible under the Act, federal financing would not be
available even in those States that provided AFDC payments for them. In order
to preserve the status quo, the agency came up with the inventive solution of
ascribing the 'unborn children' regulation to its rulemaking power under 1102
of the Act, and thus avoiding the mandatory effects of a finding of 'eligibility'
under 406(a).
26

This ingenious but late-blooming tactical switch does little, in my view, to

cancel out the effect of the long and consistent prior course of administrative
interpretation of the Act. Since the agency's position in this case and related
cases is evidently designed to preserve its authority to extend federal aid on an
optional basis in spite of King, Townsend, and Carleson, I would view
somewhat skeptically the agency's assertion that it has never deemed unborn
children to be within the eligibility provisions of 406(a).

27

Even if the agency's new position is not discounted as a reaction to the

exigencies of the moment, the policies underlying the doctrine of administrative
interpretation require more than simply placing a thumb on the side of the scale
that the agency currently favors.3 The agency's determination that unborn
children are eligible for matching federal aid was made early in the life of the
program, and the administrators of the Act determined only a few years after
the Act's passage that making AFDC payments available to unborn children
was consistent with the statutory purposes. This contemporaneous and
longapplied construction of the eligibility provision and purposes of the Act is
entitled to great weight particularly in the case of a statute that has been before
the Congress repeatedly and has been amended numerous times. The majority
contends that because of the details of the unsuccessful 1972 legislative effort
to exclude unborn children from coverage, the respondents can claim little
benefit from the natural inference that the statute still included them among
those eligible for aid. This may be so, but in light of the history of the
administrative interpretation of 406(a), I cannot agree that the Act, in its
present form, should be read to exclude the unborn from eligibility.

28

I dissent.

The complaint was framed under 42 U.S.C. 1983, and jurisdiction in the

The complaint was framed under 42 U.S.C. 1983, and jurisdiction in the
District Court was based on 28 U.S.C. 1343(3). See Hagans v. Lavine, 415
U.S. 528, 94 S.Ct. 1372, 39 L.Ed.2d 577 (1974).

The cases are cited in Parks v. Harden, 504 F.2d 861, 863 n. 4 (CA5 1974).

E.g., Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961), which includes as

one definition of 'child,' 'an unborn or recently born human being: fetus, infant,
baby.' This, of course, is only one of many definitions for the word 'child,' and
its use with reference to unborn children is not the most frequent. Webster's
New International Dictionary (2d ed. 1957) qualified the definition quoted
above by adding: 'now chiefly in phrases. Cf. with child, childbirth.'
Respondents have candidly furnished citations to other current dictionaries that
do not indicate that the word 'child' is used to refer to unborn children.
Respondents acknowledge that reliance on dictionaries cannot solve the
question presented in this case. At most, the dictionaries demonstrate the
possible ambiguity in the term 'dependent child.'

See United States v. Southern Ute Indians, 402 U.S. 159, 173 n. 8, 91 S.Ct.
1336, 1343, 28 L.Ed.2d 695 (1971); Studebaker v. Perry, 184 U.S. 258, 269, 22
S.Ct. 463, 468, 46 L.Ed. 528 (1902); Merritt v. Welsh, 104 U.S. 694, 702
703, 26 L.Ed. 896 (1882).

The current regulation provides that '(f)ederal financial participation is

available in . . . (p)ayments with respect to an unborn child when the fact of
pregnancy has been determined by medical diagnosis.' 45 CFR 233.90(c)(2)
(ii). Although the regulation itself does not say expressly that aid to unborn
children is optional with the States, HEW's administrative practice makes clear
that this regulation allows States to exclude unborn children from their AFDC
programs. As of 1971 HEW had approved 34 state plans, including Iowa's, that
furnished no aid to unborn children. 494 F.2d 743, 745 (CA8 1974).

The Act was amended in 1950 to authorize payment for the needs of the child's
caretaker. Act of Aug. 28, 1950, 323, 64 Stat. 551.

A number of other provisions of the Act would be similarly inapplicable to

unborn children. See Murrow v. Clifford, 502 F.2d 1066, 10751076 (CA3
1974) (Rosenn, J., concurring and dissenting).

The original definition of 'dependent child' was: 'a child under the age of
sixteen who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of the
death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a
parent, and who is living with his father, mother, grandfather, grandmother,
brother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, or aunt, in a

place of residence maintained by one or more of such relatives as his or their

own home . . ..' 406(a), 49 Stat. 629.
9

The Act now authorizes, in addition to payments for children in the homes of
designated relatives, foster care payments for children who have been removed
from the homes of relatives. 42 U.S.C. 608. It also provides financial support
for child-welfare services, in a form different from the direct payments in the
general AFDC program, for 'homeless, dependent, or neglected children.' 42
U.S.C. 622, 625.
The statement of purposes in the Act, amended several times since 1935, still
indicates that Congress has not undertaken to provide support for all needy
children:
'For the purpose of encouraging the care of dependent children in their own
homes or in the homes of relatives by enabling each State to furnish financial
assistance and rehabilitation and other services, as far as practicable under the
conditions in such State, to needy dependent children and the parents or
relatives with whom they are living to help maintain and strengthen family life
and to help such parents or relatives to attain or retain capability for the
maximum self-support and personal independence consistent with the
maintenance of continuing parental care and protection . . ..' 42 U.S.C. 601.

10

As Judge Weinfeld's opinion for the Second Circuit in Wisdom v. Norton, 507
F.2d 750, 755 (1974), points out, one of the major reasons for making welfare
payments on behalf of an unborn child would be to enable its mother to
purchase adequate prenatal care. The fact that Congress explicitly provided
medical care for expectant mothers in Title V is evidence 'of a congressional
intent not to include unborn children under AFDC but to provide for maternity
care in a different section of the statute.' Id., at 755 n. 27.

11

At oral argument petitioners' counsel objected to the inclusion of these

materials in respondents' brief, noting that they were not in the record and had
not been authenticated. Tr. of Oral Arg. 4345. Respondents suggested that at
least some of the materials are proper subjects for judicial notice. In the view
we take of the case these materials are not dispositive, and it is unnecessary to
resolve their status.

12

Several of the courts that have adopted the position urged here by respondents
have interpreted the action of the 92d Congress as evidence of a 'belief that
unborn children are currently eligible under the Act 'and that only by amending
its language can their status as eligible individuals be altered." Parks v. Harden,
504 F.2d, at 872. See also Carver v. Hooker, 501 F.2d 1244, 1247 (CA1 1974);
Wilson v. Weaver, 358 F.Supp. 1147, 1155 (N.D. Ill.1973), aff'd, 499 F.2d 155

(CA7 1974). The House bill does not lend itself to this interpretation because it
was not designed to amend the existing AFDC structure but to create an
entirely different system. The Senate bill was framed as an amendment to the
eligibility provisions in 406(a), but there is no evidence that its drafters
believed unborn children were included in the existing definition of dependent
children. It would be equally plausible to suppose that they thought HEW had
misinterpreted the Act, and wanted to make the original intent clear. See
Wilson v. Weaver, 499 F.2d, at 161 (Pell, J., dissenting).
1

Besides the court below, the Courts of Appeals holding that unborn children are
within the eligibility terms of 406(a) include the First, the Fourth, the Fifth,
and the Seventh Circuits, see Carver v. Hooker, 501 F.2d 1244 (CA1 1974);
Doe v. Lukhard, 493 F.2d 54 (CA4 1974); Parks v. Harden, 504 F.2d 861 (CA5
1974); Wilson v. Weaver, 499 F.2d 155 (CA7 1974). Only the Second Circuit
has taken the opposite view, Wisdom v. Norton, 507 F.2d 750 (1974).

Among the other 'situations within the scope of the (statutory) term
'deprivation' (of parental support or care)' were 'Children Living With Both
Natural Parents,' 3412(1); 'Children Living With Either Father or Mother,'
3412(2); and 'Children of Unmarried Parents,' 3412(5). In discussing the
eligibility of the last group, the regulations noted: 'The act provides for the use
of aid to dependent children as a maintenance resource available on equal terms
to all children who meet eligibility conditions.' Ibid.

The reasons for assigning weight to an administrative agency's interpretation

vary in part according to the role that Congress intended the agency to play in
the lawmaking process. Where the act in question is an open-ended statute
under which Congress did not 'bring to a close the making of the law,' but left
the 'rounding out of its command to another, smaller and specialized agency,'
FTC v. Ruberoid Co., 343 U.S. 470, 486, 72 S.Ct. 800, 809, 96 L.Ed. 1081
(1952) (Jackson, J., dissenting), the agency's shift in position, even at a late
date, should be given substantial weight. See NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc., 420
U.S., at 265266, 95 S.Ct., at 967968; Phelps Dodge Corp. v. NLRB, 313
U.S. 177, 193194, 61 S.Ct. 845, 852, 85 L.Ed. 1271 (1941). Plainly,
however, Congress did not intend the term 'dependent child' in this detailed and
oftenamended statute to be subject to re-examination and redefinition as the
agency's perceptions of social needs changed. In cases such as this one, where
the agency is intended merely to carry out the congressional mandate, a longstanding course of administrative interpretation is relevant primarily as a
contemporaneous construction of the Act by persons dealing intimately with its
terms on a day-to-day basis.