The Welfare Problem

The Welfare Problem

The poor are everywhere it seems. They are on the street corner, in the local 7 Eleven, and in the plaza. Sometimes I get sick of them and even angry with them when they pester me for money. I ask myself, "Is the best way to deal with poor, to give them money from my pocket?" It's obvious that other people have given them money from their pockets at different times. If no one had ever given them money, then these people wouldn't be standing here asking for money. The fact is, many poor people ask for money because they know they can get money that way. For most of the last 70 years our government has indirectly given the poor money from our pockets, through taxes and welfare. Not surprisingly, people have continued to ask for money. For most of those 70 years welfare fed the mentality that the best way to get money was to ask. I believe welfare as it was first started, failed miserably and created millions of dependents in poverty instead of independents above poverty. The welfare reform of 1996, I believe has helped the poor escape from the trap of poverty and is a more beneficial way of dealing with the poor.

The idea of the United States government assisting the poor financially, originated nearly 70 years ago (Modern Welfare Programs). The depression was in full flux and the American people were demanding help from the government. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the first federal poverty assistance act called Aid to Dependent Children Act in 1935 (Background: Time for a new Approach). This laid the foundation of the current government entitlement program now called welfare. World War II brought thousands of jobs to America and slowed the growth of the entitlement program. A vast majority of people were employed either directly by the government or through other war related jobs. After the war the economy held strong for the next ten years (Modern Welfare Programs).

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy raised the current welfare payments and renamed the program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Kennedy allowed states to require work in order to receive welfare, but didn’t require it. Kennedy also laid out the new goal for welfare in America, it was to “end poverty, not just alleviate poverty” (Background: Time for a new Approach). Kennedy said welfare should be “a hand up, not a hand out." Welfare continued to change...

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...amilies Program, Fourth Annual Report to Congress). Welfare Reform is causing the poor to work and it is lowering the poverty rate of Children.

I believe that the old entitlement programs of the past 70 years led to an unnecessary dependence on the government for many people. Welfare reform has cut dependence on the government and helped thousands of people find work. It has helped people find meaning and value in life and commit less crime. Welfare reform is succeeding and I believe it is more compassionate on the poor person than the entitlement system. Welfare reform has provided much needed help for those poor who need help in finding a job. It also has provided a way for the poor to contribute in their communities and to become independent from the government. It's not the perfect system, but it sure is an improvement on the previous system of endless entitlements, that created over 15 million dependents on the government. As Christians we are called to have compassion on all people and I believe welfare reform is more compassionate on the poor than the entitlement system was. It helps them escape poverty instead of trapping them in poverty. That is what I call success.