Social Welfare And The Welfare System

Social welfare policy that is seen throughout America today has roots that are hundreds of years old. The modern policy in America has been based on five fundamental traditions that were brought from Britain when they colonized North America. Those five traditions are Calvinism, Localism, controlling the mobility of the workforce, reliance on poor houses and work houses, and less eligibility. These traditions will be defined and then connected to the influence they have had on the modern American social policy.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers food assistance programs that help provide food for low to no income families. It is their goal to increase food security and reduce hunger by increasing access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education for low-income Americans (Caswell, 2013, para. 1). Some of the current nutrition assistance programs include “the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)”(Caswell, 2013, para. 1). SNAP will be the primary nutrition assistance program of the paper at hand. No matter how morally good it is to try to help reduce hunger and increase food security within the United States, there are still many questions regarding issues with SNAP. This paper will be discussing why there is such a strong support for the program, how it helps the United States as a whole, problems with the program, and why some people are against SNAP.

Federal Government has the ability to create positive change in many social welfare systems. The support of the government ultimately determines the success of a social welfare program. They play an important role in the decisions of how funds are allocated and the importance of these various vulnerable populations. The federal government is used as a tool, to help implement and support social welfare programs. However, from my own opinion, it is sometimes lacking in the proper support needed in many aspects. This is caused by a plethora of reasons, not to say that the government is completely unsupportive. Yet, there may be a gap in the perception of these social issues. The government puts in place laws, regulations, system structures, and so on. Therefore, because the government are the implementers of how our country is ran, it is their responsibility to be a main facets in the support of the gaps that inevitably occur. Nonetheless, it can be difficult to understand the needs of these population’s and the reality of their hardships. Most in a position of power, such as the federal government, have not experienced the severity of the many situations, that results in individuals needing assistance from these social welfare programs. Moreover, it is essential that there is outreach to these populations. All the same, getting a more realistic view of the life in these contexts. For instance, the time cap of being on assistance throughout one’s

The social welfare system in the United States can be a controversial topic especially now with the new presidential elect. For this paper I was assigned to look into two different peoples perceptions and attitudes on the social welfare system. I looked into how they perceived the system and whom they believed benefits from this system. Throughout this paper the identities of the two people I interviewed will not be revealed. I will simply refer to them in pronouns. My goal during this interview was not to educate my two interviewees so some of the information contained in this paper may not be accurate. Throughout this paper the two interviewees opinions will be stated and their opinions will then be compared and discussed. Although the whole population of the United States is experiencing the same welfare system each individual perceives and has different beliefs about the system.

Conflict between Democrats and Republicans is amplified by the various decisions about dealing with poverty, causing unnecessary contention parties and individuals. While this may not seem like a major issue, these major parties are defensive about detail and equally important in making decisions on America’s behalf. In 1992, for example, Bill Clinton was elected president with a Republican Congress that constantly disagreed with his ideas. History repeated itself in 2001 under George W. Bush. The Hutchinson Encyclopedia shows welfare causes gridlock in Congress, keeping more important issues from being solved, so a solution must be implemented immediately. The main concern among government authorities and Americans in general are those who truly need assistance, because it is likely through eliminating or reforming welfare, the wrong end will be hurt. From the current view, it seems impossible for both sides to agree on any issues, but a welfare plan both flexible and sensible does exist.

The federal government has a multitude of programs all requiring continuous review to ensure efficiency. Americans do not have to search far to find examples of government fraud, waste, and abuse. The federal deficit crisis makes any examples of program waste unacceptable. A program review process needs to have clear value criteria and allow for itemized reductions to gain efficiency without losing effectiveness. There are several alternatives to federal program efficiencies including empowerment to state governments, consolidation of duplicate programs, privatization, and straight up elimination of non-value added activities. I have selected three recommended domestic programs for adjustment. The recommendations are to provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, require states to cover 1/4th of the cost for food stamps, and reduce the cost of the federal workforce. Impact of implementing these recommendations is a total of $520 billion to debt reduction.

What would happen if the government made changes to the welfare system? There are approximately 110,489,000 of Americans on welfare. Many people benefit from what the system has to offer: food stamps, housing, health insurance, day care, and unemployment. Taxpayers often argue that the individuals who benefit from the system, abuse the system; however, this is not entirely true. Many of the people who receive benefits really and truly need the help. Even though some people believe welfare should be reformed, welfare should not be reformed because 40% of single mothers are poor, some elderly people do not have a support system, and college students can not afford to take extra loans.

As I drive by 2520 Irving Blvd Street, I distinctly recall what it felt like to walk out of the Department of Workforce Services building after I figured out that my family qualified for food stamps. There wasn’t a rainbow that day, after sharp flowing sprinkles fell from the sky. The parking lot was vacant for the most part. As our family walked to our old, beat up car my mother had shed a tear of relief. For some people that don’t know what food stamps (S.N.A.P.) are, it is benefits from the government usually based on total gross income. The total amount of money the state will provide depends on several criteria. Before you judge, which I odds are you’ve already done, given that I just told you that my family was impermanently on public assistance. First off, my mom tried to do everything right. She stayed up late on Wednesday nights clipping coupons. She baked her own bread. She steered away from credit card debt. She drove a 10-year-old car. She even tried to get her GED except her French is stronger than her English and she couldn’t comprehend much. Amongst the United States is handling an ongoing issue about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (S.N.A.P.), which is nearly dropping 47 million Americans whom don’t qualify for food stamps. Overall would increasing hardship and food insecurities for families that severely need it. While some people milk the system and don’t benefit our country trying to abuse it we will talk about how great the amount of cuts

The welfare system is run by the government that runs different programs that was originally intended to help the unemployed or underemployed (Welfare Info, n.d.). It went from just helping those two groups and branched significantly into helping low income families, disabled, and single parent families be able to live the best life possible. Some of the programs include "Medicaid, Food Stamps, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Head Start, Work Study, and Medicare" (Welfare Info, n.d.). Another very commonly known one is Social Security which is mainly for seniors when they retire.

Welfare is the “statutory procedure or social effort designed to promote the basic physical and material well- being of people in need. And with policies such as affordable housing and snap, welfare is providing homes and food for people in need. The Welfare program changed after the “The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996”, a policy that replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 were passed by President Bill Clinton. The new policies that has formed since “The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996”, such as Affordable housing and snap have shaped the country and politics in a way of war. The Republic and Democratic Party are always debating over the use of welfare. The Republic Party believes the Affordable Housing and SNAP programs are causing the country money and the programs need to be ended. Where the Democratic Party believe the programs save the country money as well as helping the

The US welfare system started back in the 1930’s when the great depression was going on. In 2012 more than 30 percent of households headed by an immigrant. The people who are mainly on welfare are the people who are sick and disabled and have little income, a big family or who come from out of the country. The government provides each state with their own welfare programs called temporary assistance for needy families (TANF). There are many different types of welfare programs in the US like, heath care, food stamps, child care assistance, unemployment, cash aid, and housing assistance. All of these types of welfare are controlled by the government and the state in some kind of way.

The American welfare system is fundamentally flawed, and the US Government should take the steps necessary to reform and repair it. In particular, government assistance and handouts only cause the US to fall deeper into debt, and the lack of working citizens weakens the economy. Government assistance exists in many forms, some of which include TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), SNAP (electronic benefits card/EBT or food stamps), housing assistance, unemployment benefits, Obama phones, government-funded healthcare, such as Medicare, and various tax credits (federalsafetynet.com). More importantly, the system doesn’t encourage, provide motivation or offer incentive

Social welfare programs are when society organizes efforts to meet some human needs. In the United States social welfare philosophies have changed throughout the years, and support for social welfare has gone both ways.

In as early as 2012 it is estimated there will only be two workers paying taxes for every one recipient of Social Security benefits. At that time the surpluses generated each year will cease, and Social Security will begin to run a deficit (paying out more than it takes in). The government will then have to begin paying back the money borrowed from the trusts, plus interest. Since no money has been saved for this purpose, the government will be forced to increase the national debt, cut spending, or raise taxes. “Even worse, unless something is done, the entire Social Security system will use up its government IOUs and go bankrupt by 2037” (www.socialsecurityreform.org).

From the colonialization of America to the present, social welfare has evolved tremendously. American values during each era helped determine how the poor were to be treated. Values such as Puritan work ethic, felt that if you were not working then you were immoral. Two other values that were prominent in American’s history are individualism and capitalism. Individualism is the belief that one can succeed without the help of others while the capitalistic view felt that a free market system would help create jobs. The Judeo-Christian value comes up in our history as well and says that those who are deemed worthy morally deserve the help of others. These values shaped perspectives on social welfare. One perspective called the problem centered approach feels that it is the individual’s actions are to blame for their poverty. The other perspective is the conflict approach where it is believed that things out of our control cause poverty. This could be an economic downturn or policies that affect individuals financially.