Summary of the Social Welfare Issue (Cheryl)
Poverty has been a long standing issue in the United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, the official poverty rate was 13.5 percent in 2015, which is 43.1 million people living in poverty within the United States (Proctor et. al, USCB, 2016). Research has shown that there are three main causes of poverty in the United States; the economy, changes in family composition, and government spending (TFOC, Princeton University, 2007). The United States is one of the most developed countries in the world yet poverty continues to be a very serious problem. Consistent employment in the United States is a way out of poverty for most people but years of labor market shifts have contributed to the high number of people in poverty (Institute for Research on Poverty, 2011). That is to say, the already poor person who lost a job, sometimes ended up in a household where there is already only one income. This decreases the chance of the already low-wage earner to save up enough money to counteract the effect of poverty. …show more content…
These programs, which included the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) further reduces the families access to welfare cash because of the introduction of time limits and increased in welfare to work obligations which resulted in further out of pocket costs for these already strained households (IRP on Poverty, 2011). The war on poverty, more than 50 years ago, has changed the dynamics of family life drastically that caused an increase in family complexity due to high rates of non-marital childbearing, cohabitation, divorce, and couples getting back together (IRP, 2011). That is to say, family complexity plays a part in
Poverty has been a long standing issue in the United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, the official poverty rate was 13.5 percent in 2015, which is 43.1 million people living in poverty within the United States (Proctor et. al, USCB, 2016). Research has shown that there are three main causes of poverty in the United States; the economy, changes in family composition, and government spending (TFOC, Princeton University, 2007). The United States is one of the most developed countries in the world yet poverty continues to be a very serious problem. Consistent employment in the United States is a way out of poverty for most people but years of labor market shifts have contributed to the high number of people in poverty (Institute for Research on Poverty, 2011). That is to say, the already poor person who lost a job, sometimes ended up in a household where there is already only one income. This decreases the chance of the already low-wage earner to save up enough money to counteract the effect of poverty. …show more content…
These programs, which included the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) further reduces the families access to welfare cash because of the introduction of time limits and increased in welfare to work obligations which resulted in further out of pocket costs for these already strained households (IRP on Poverty, 2011). The war on poverty, more than 50 years ago, has changed the dynamics of family life drastically that caused an increase in family complexity due to high rates of non-marital childbearing, cohabitation, divorce, and couples getting back together (IRP, 2011). That is to say, family complexity plays a part in