Recommendation On Welfare Reform

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Recommended: Poverty a social issue

Welfare is a complex and politically divisive issue facing our nation today. There are many types of government subsidies which benefit people in every socioeconomic class, but for the purposes of this paper, we will refer to welfare as government aid to the poor. Although there are many other kinds of government welfare (social security, tax deductions, etc.), our main concern is to address the problem of poverty, and to remedy the tendency of certain groups to become trapped in its vicious cycle.

The authors of this paper believe that the problem of welfare is, in fact, the problem of poverty. This problem cannot be understood in terms of one variable. We choose to examine the problem from an economical, cultural, and functional perspective. Our goals for this paper are threefold. First, we need to identify the problem of poverty, and examine its root causes. We must explore to what extent poverty is a result of racism, discrimination and inequality. We will attempt to understand the cultural differences that exist between the middle and lower classes, and look at how those differences contribute to the welfare problem in this country. By examining the demographics of the lower class, we hope to discover who is truly poor in this country, and to gain a better understanding of why these groups are in a marginalized position. After identifying who is poor, we will experiment with several possible ways of solving the problem of poverty. Finally, we will give a policy recommendation for our candidate, keeping in mind the political sensitivity that surrounds the welfare issue.

The Economical Dilemma

The official measure of the poverty line was first developed by Mollie Orshansky for the Social Security Administration (SSA)...

... middle of paper ...

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"International Welfare Programs." 1999. http://www.public-policy.org/~ncpa/pi/welfare/welfare8.html (8 Mar.2000).

Jackson, Robert M., ed. Primis. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999.

Merton, Robert K. Social Theory and Social Structure. New York: The Free Press, 1968.

"Social Audit." The Gallup Poll 2000 http://www.gallup.com/poll/socialaudits/general_measures.asp (8 Mar. 2000).

"Statements and Speeches." 2000. http://www.icsw.org (4 Mar. 2000).

"Taxes Around the World." Paradine Web Resources. May 1999. http://www.paradine.com/worldtax.html (7 Mar. 2000).

Wilson, William Julius. The Truly Disadvantaged. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.

Wolff, Edward N. Econoics of Poverty, Inequality and Discrimination. Southwestern College Publishing, 1997.

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