Reforming American Welfare Programs

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From the years 2008 to 2013, the United States Federal Government spent over 3.7 trillion dollars on welfare programs (The New Normal: Welfare is Now America’s Most Popular Occupation, Husley). These government assistance programs have come to be abused by many Americans, and this is a problem that needs to be stopped. If the American welfare system can be reformed, it will reduce the strain it is putting on the United States’ already fragile financial system. In order to help the country out of debt and many Americans out of poverty, the American welfare programs must develop more vigorous requirements for citizens to qualify for benefits in addition to reducing the time period of assistance considerably. These changes would exclude citizens who receive disability benefits. This was attempted in 1996 when President Bill Clinton introduced TANF, (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), as a government program which provided aid to destitute families for a period of five years. During this time, at least one dependent had to find another source of income to maintain their benefits. This reform worked for a time, but the Obama Administration waived the requirement that stated one dependent had to get a job, and allowed individual states to set the mandate (Counterpoint: Welfare Programs Create a Sense of Entitlement, 2013). A better solution would be to limit time of assistance to 18 months and require dependents to have either one full time job or two part time jobs to maintain benefits, unchangeable by the states. All states should lower the benefit pay per month to just below minimum wage so people wouldn’t see welfare as a better way to get support themselves than obtaining a job. This along with other changes to t... ... middle of paper ... ...new-normal-welfare-now-americas-number-1-occupation/>. Issitt, Micah L., and Flynn, Dr. “Welfare: An Overview.” Points of View Reference Center. Great Neck Publishing, 2013. Web. 6 Feb. 2014. . Rouselle, Christine. “My Time at Walmart: Why We Need Serious Welfare Reform.” The College Conservative. N.p., 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 6 Feb. 2014. . Tanner, Michael, and Cato. “Cato Institute: Welfare Pays More Than Twice Minimum Wage In A Dozen States.” Fox News Latino. Fox News, 21 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2014. .

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