Welfare Reform Research Paper

Welfare has always been a major point in today’s politics; every election the debate is brought forth once more and again when the Federal budget comes to the floor. It is assumed by many in the population that the program is for the lazy and encourages the poor to not find work or continues to have dependents to increase the amount of benefits they can receive. Many argue that it is the “right” of the individual to receive aid from the government when they cannot support their family. Others agree help is warranted but there must be limits set to avoid fraud or the program becomes not an aid but a way of life. Over the course of our nation’s history welfare reform has taken on many new faces and gone through many struggles. Now many …show more content…
Most Americans assume that welfare is just giving money to the lazy or uneducated, but it is so much more. The welfare program does offer cash assistance for lower income families called TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. It also offers SNAP, which is the food and nutrition program or food stamps, along with WIC which offers pregnant mothers as well as infants and children a supplemented way to purchase milk, cheese and other food products that are necessary for a healthy pregnancy or infant. Medicaid health care for those who cannot afford insurance, childcare support for families that cannot afford childcare or that would be unable to work without childcare, Utility or energy assistance for those who need help with their utilities, and finally, vocational rehabilitation services which help families finish their education, teach them a new vocation or just help in job placement. The program is designed to help families better themselves and their situation; the goal is to guide individuals to a path that leads to personal success taking them away and off the welfare programs. However, according to a recent study by the Cato Institute, “welfare programs pay more than minimum wage in 35 states” (Vasilogambros, 2013 pg. 1). According to their new study, which updates their report from 1995, the programs in place by the states can pay more annually then a regular job at the minimum …show more content…
By the end of 1945, forty of the United States had created programs to assist widows with dependents and most states began offering cash assistance to the elderly. What the public knows as welfare began during the Great Depression as the Aid to Dependent Children Act. Prior to Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation, programs to help with poverty were run through state and local governments as well as private foundations and charities. However, even with the New Deal, these programs were over run with families needing assistance even after the Great Depression ended. In 1996, Clinton offered a reform to the legislature that would change the face of welfare. His plan offered states Federal grants to fund their programs based on their population, so states with more population receive a larger grant then others regardless of the state’s economy level. The plan required states to prove that the recipients of welfare where trying to find employment and get off welfare as well as impose a five year limit on cash benefits paid to families on the program. Local agencies were given new criteria that the populous had to meet before they were eligible for assistance. This included proof of residency in that local area, proof of dependents and age, as well as proof of job searches or vocational schooling to improve employment opportunities. The