Misuse And Abuse Of Welfare Essay

Misuse and Abuse of Welfare in America
Welfare misuse in the United States is more common than the average person may think. Welfare is a government program that provides financial aid or services to individuals who cannot support themselves. The program takes money from working individuals in the form of taxes and distributes it to assist the disadvantaged and less fortunate. Though this effort is incredible in many ways, it is misused and abused by many receiving it. This misuse encourages many who do not need welfare to apply for it because the criteria to receive benefits can be easily met. There have been many plans to stop the misuse and to create a reform, but none of these have been thoroughly carried out. Although supporters
believe welfare is essential to the financial stability of our society, in reality, it creates a culture of dependency and decreased motivation for some Americans.
Welfare is simply a way for Americans who are not financially stable by their own choice or by uncontrollable circumstances, to be provided with government assistance with little to no effort on their part. Any person could get welfare simply by not inserting themselves into the workforce. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, is of the most common assistance programs. This application process for SNAP benefits can be easily fabricated. Even though an applicant’s income, possessions, and circumstances affect the application process, records could easily be fabricated to make them appear more qualified.
According to a 2013 study by the Cato Institute, a mother of two that is enrolled in seven of the most common welfare programs (TANF, food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance, WIC, energy assistance, and fee commodities) receives anywhere from $16,984 to $49,175 a year in untaxed welfare benefits. In nine states the annual benefit was reported to be worth more than $35,000 a year. Welfare recipients in over 30 states earn more an hour sitting at home doing nothing than someone with a job making minimum wage. The study also reported that if a welfare recipient decided to stop receiving benefits and go to work, he or she would have to make considerably more just to break even due to the taxes they would have to pay on their wages. “In Hawaii, for example, a person leaving welfare for work would have to earn more than $60,590 a year to be better off” (Tanner). It is sad to think that there are able-bodied individuals who are fully capable of working, yet they choose to stay at home and collect welfare benefits. Who can blame them when they can make more a year than an entry-level teacher or secretary?
Some argue that welfare is a good thing because it helps the truly desperate and deserving. If an individual were truly desperate, then there would be no debate over welfare. Many also believe that welfare provides underprivileged citizens the financial security needed to live and the support their families need during difficult times. Joseph Westfall, an expert on the subject writes, “Freedom means nothing if people do not have the ability to exercise it. To do that, they need a minimum level of well-being” (Westfall). Westfall’s explanation of a benefit of welfare is the only one that justifies the use of welfare because he implies that individuals need a mere sense of financial security, not a reason to remain jobless. Financial stability does many things for an individual, but if the opportunity is presented that an individual does not have to apply themselves, they won’t. They will have little to no desire to search for employment, only motivation to continue doing nothing and receiving welfare benefits for it.
Others would argue that most of the nation’s welfare benefits go to the elderly or seriously disabled, not the able-bodied, working-age Americans who chose not to work.
While this might be true, the media, film industry, and popular websites like YouTube lead Americans to believe otherwise. They depict images of young, able-bodied Americans misusing and abusing the welfare system. The lack of accountability and sense of entitlement portrayed in these images and videos is extremely disappointing. In the YouTube video entitled “Welfare Recipient: I Get to Sit Home…I Get to Smoke Weed…We Still Gonna Get Paid” by TheDailySteeple, a woman by the name of Lucy calls into an Austin, Texas radio program to discuss how she does not see the point of working when she can sit at home, hangout with her friends, and smoke weed every day thanks to taxpayers. As the call goes on listeners learn that Lucy receives approximately $1,200 a month in welfare benefits in addition to the family benefits her husband receives, and that Lucy’s parents were also on welfare. This so called generational welfare not only limits potential, it diminishes any motivation to succeed. And while the welfare program has served its purpose it has also failed by creating a sense of dependency and entitlement. Attitude’s like Lucy’s are spreading at epidemic proportion. Instead of blaming the system for their problems, recipients need to be accountable for their actions and stop viewing welfare as a career.
Welfare benefits should be given to those that make an effort to improve their situation. It is sad to think that there are families across America struggling to make ends meet each month. Yet they do not qualify for welfare benefits because they make too much money. It is time for Americans to wake up and take action! Work requirements, mandatory drug testing, and better education are key to reducing poverty and the dependency on welfare in the United States.
Welfare misuse not only affects those in communities where welfare is abused, but it also impacts the paycheck of every working citizen.
Taxes used to fund the welfare program are deducted from every employee’s paycheck. The more people the government has to support, the larger the deductions will be. If the money deducted was solely used to support truly desperate and deserving individuals, it would be a completely different matter. The fact that the current welfare program is allowing so many underserving citizens to receive assistance is making the entire program seem like a joke. In fact, many working class citizens support the idea of mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients, especially since it is not uncommon to be drug tested when applying for a job. For business owners, this practice holds employees accountable for their actions. If they do not pass the drug test, there is a very simple consequence; no job. In addition to drug testing in the workplace, a growing number of states are requiring drug testing for recipients of welfare, food stamps unemployment and other
benefits.
In conclusion, welfare in the United States is tainted and misused entirely too much. Many are realizing the simplicity to the application process and they are altering their lifestyles to fit the criteria. This kind of abuse will eventually lead to higher taxes and increased generational welfare. There have been many attempts at reforms, but none are absolutely effective because no matter what, someone will always find a way around the system. Welfare, if not regulated, will become a significant problem in the United States. In order for welfare to become regulated, the government must see what has become of the welfare program. They must open their eyes to the corruptions inside the program that can only be fixed by overhauling the entire program and implementing stricter guidelines and more monitoring of the system itself.