Welfare System Research Paper

America's welfare system has become beaten and bruised. Although the welfare system started out as an appreciated helping hand for people in need, undoubtedly it has turned into a cycle that can, encourage individuals to hold back from succeeding on their own, through its many programs such as food stamps, low income and housing assistance, to the basic fact of who actually receives the benefits. Welfare was able to dig its roots into America during the time of the Great Depression. At that time, the local and state governments, along with private charities were being overwhelmed with individuals and families seeking the necessities to live. Necessities these families could no longer afford themselves. This is the main point when welfare,
for the poor, became the government's responsibility. While there had always been help for people who needed it at the local level, the Great Depression made welfare a major federal task. Welfare is a much-needed and appreciated program. Individuals cannot control the entire world around them; many people who are on these public assistance programs are there because of an unexpected circumstance. There are unexpected expenses that come up like the loss of a job, family member's death, illness. All of these things can add burdens that some individuals may not be able to handle at the given time. That was the main function of the welfare programs, to help people remain on their feet during these hardships. So in an example of, a single parent losing their job, their whole family would not be displaced in the time it took them to find a new one. With welfare programs like housing assistance a family like this would be able to keep their home. Another key aspect of welfare’s great potential is, it is primarily for the children. This is important because unlike adults, children cannot take care of themselves and have not had their chance at running their own lives. Along with children, the elderly, and disabled were a primary focus of the social welfare programs. However, today this is not always the case. Today’s programs have slipped. There is not only help for the desperate but when looking hard enough, there is a program for almost everyone. Today there are 80 plus federal welfare programs in the United States. The fundamental reason for this is, today many of the programs are not just for the individuals stuck in poverty, the children, or the elderly, they now go beyond. Unlike the past, we don't just spend the money on the individuals who need the help to stay afloat, America's welfare system has expanded out beyond the individual level. And with what is left at the individual level often being taken advantage of. David Harsanyi author of, “The Corrosive Effect of Big Government Dependency,” focuses on this exact issue. The issue of government nurturing to a point beyond just helping. Everyone likes to believe they are independent and don't need help, but in reality is easier to depend on something or someone else. David points out, “Increases in dependency and entitlements do matter. If handouts were irrelevant, politicians wouldn’t promise to relieve people of their burdens ...” (2). The biggest problem with welfare and probably the most easily solved would be the dependency on it.
At the individual level, many rely too closely on government benefits to live their lives the way they want. The result of this is, cases where individuals choose to turn down promotions at their jobs, because if they take it they will lose some of these benefits. The are stuck between the decision of doing more work for a little more money, or staying where they are at getting the assistance without the extra work. Alos because of the tax, some individuals can actually make more money by doing this than taking the two dollar raise. In his article David quotes a report from the Washington Examiner stating, “A Congressional Research Service report found that the number of able-bodied adults on food stamps has doubled since [the suspend of one rule related to work requirements] in the welfare reform of 2009” (2). Today the mindset has blatantly changed, people used to cower at admitting to something like receiving food stamps, because people didn't want to rely on someone else to take care of them. Today there is next to no shame in admitting reliance on the
government. Another one of the simple ways individuals get around the requirements for the welfare system, is by not claiming all of their household income. This might be through families living together or children that work. Though there is a big legal risk in this, many do get away with it. Also, when an individual is out of work the only thing they need to do to keep getting unemployment benefits is prove they are turning in applications for jobs, but anybody can turn in an application. Many of them turn the applications into jobs they know they will never get or do not follow up on them. Whether these individuals know it or not these are some of the reasons the economy is falling behind, because with abuse to the system like this these individuals who are taking advantage of the benefits are taking away from the ones who really need it. It would be immoral to pickpocket someone, so why is it acceptable to pickpocket the taxpayers?
Welfare was not created to support the nation, but more to help it remain on its feet in times of trouble.
Nowadays these social welfare programs are putting out as much money as they bring in. It has no backup or safety net of its own for times of crises. Using social security as an example, these programs were all created to fit a time. When social security was created individuals did not have the life span they have today. What they payed in their taxes for social security all their working years is what they got back after retirement, but now the work of this generation is paying for the generations that came before them. Thinking about this begs the question of who will pay for the next generations? It is inevitable that one day unless a change is made soon the system will be too far behind, wanting to rely on a generation who is not even old enough to work yet. As life spans increase and the cost of living goes with it social security can no longer keep up, much like the basic growth of the government dependency. Still as this dependency grows, it will become harder and harder to get away from it. One problem that Kevin Williamson the author of “End Corporate Welfare,” points out is that if, the right thing is unpopular it is very hard for politicians to do. The simple fact is, no one votes for somebody who tells the ugly truth, they rather vote for pretty lies. But when the population does this, nothing gets
fixed. Another view of America's welfare system comes from, Kimberly Morgan the author of, “ America’s Misguided Approach to Social Welfare.” She comments on America's welfare system as being very distinctive, but not being what Americans think it is. She acknowledges that the distribution of welfare in America has become unbalanced and incomplete, pointing out that even after the Affordable Care Act, the amount of the population without health care will remain higher than other advanced country. She also goes as far to point out the measure of the U.S. direct public spending on social programs and how it compares to other rich democracies. With the U.S. being at the bottom of the list she states, “while there are other countries that do focus their social policies on helping the disadvantaged, the Unites States is not one of them” (4). An analysis done by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities at one time had reported that about twenty percent of entitlement spending went to the top ten percent of households, while only thirty-two percent went to the bottom twenty percent. Along with fifty-eight percent going to the middle class. At a company level Kevin also mentions how the trade policies have changed commenting, “It would be more honest and transparent if the U.S Treasury were simply to write Boeing a very large check every year, but we prefer an element of subterfuge in our corporate welfare. We give foreign firms money to buy products from American firms and call it trade policy” (2). Like this, many of the programs have grown and expanded, now overran by big business, or simply not in the interest of the common individual any more. Still Americans vote for it, because of politicians promises of handouts. But why is the government even spending money on bailing these big businesses out or giving them tax breaks? There are many answers to this question, some are really because the economy needs that business, others because of the jobs that might be lost. Still many of these companies make decisions knowing the outcome will be bankruptcy, then rely on bailouts much the same why the individual will rely on unemployment pay. But when the system is taken advantage like this everyone is hurt. From the entire population that pays into these programs to people who are actually suffering and need the assistance. Though individuals cannot always control the world around them, they can control how they react to it. The simple fact is that America's welfare system is being overrun by both businesses and individuals who have become overly depended on it, or feel they are entitled. The systems are in dire need of revamping, and change to match the current date. But to do this America's must once again feel the pride in doing things on their own, along with the will to work to achieve their dreams.