Welfare Should Be Reformed Essay

There are 109,631,000 Americans on welfare, and only 105,862,000 full time working Americans. The fact that the amount of people on welfare outnumbers those who work, shows how our country is deteriorating. Some individuals on welfare take advantage of the system and exchange the things given to them, such as food stamps, for drugs or alcohol. I think anyone who does that should be taken off of welfare. In order to prevent that from happening in the future, I believe a system should be made. The system would determine whether an individual is deserving of government assistance or not. In order to be on welfare, there would be a drug test that has to be passed to even be considered. If passed, there would be quarterly drug tests that have to be passed in order to continue to get help from the government. There should also be a standard set that determines if the severity of the person’s disability is worthy of governmental assistance. If they meet all the criteria and pass their quarterly drug tests, then they deserve to be on welfare. Those who do not meet the criteria and are qualified to work, should get a job in order to support themselves and their

Welfare is intended for families or individuals that are in need of assistance with no or little income. For those who do not know, Welfare funds come from hard working individuals that are required to pay taxes. Now we wonder, are the tax payers’ hard earned money going to the right deserving recipients? Welfare fraud is on the rise in this country. Many are taking advantage of the system taking away the help that is meant for people that truly needed help to provide for their families or people that need assistance until they can stand on their own feet. Statistics clearly show that “785,000 to 1.2 million families are illegally receiving welfare benefits. At the average rate of $11,500 per year, this means taxpayers are being

Welfare is not intended to be a way for citizens to have a way out of having to look for employment, but for many that is what it has become. An estimated 21.3% of all Americans were on some sort of Welfare program each month in 2012 (Bureau). Fraud is a commonly found problem within the welfare system, and it can come in many forms. The eligibility of welfare applicants are reviewed annually, but this allows for errors to occur in the manner of which the applicant could be eligible for a half a year, but they still receive assistance for the rest of the year when they no longer need it (Ribali). The annual check for eligibility accounts for the fair amount

Welfare should not be removed completely, for some actually need it, but it should be limited to prevent people from abusing the system and cheating taxpayers out of their money.

While there is fraud that happens in the welfare system it is not to the extent to which people think. Welfare fraud does not happen as often as other citizens think. Instances of fraud includes a recipient not recording their income, not recording a source income in the household, and not recording an over payment of cash assistance. According to getoutofdebt.org in the fiscal year of 2004- 2005 there was a total of 425 convictions of welfare fraud in the United States. That is not a massive number when in comparison to the total of people who are receiving welfare.

two years if at least one year has been spent in a work program. States must

Welfare was designed to reduce poverty, yet the poverty rates have only increased. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (welfare) was designed to help families struggling with financial hardships for a short period of time. It is not a lifelong program like so many assume it is. President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fibre. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit” (Gaiser 3). What he meant by saying this is that we are enabling people to become dependent on others which is detrimental, not only to the recipients of welfare, but to the nation as a whole. We are not doing any good to anyone by continually supporting the poor and underprivileged with welfare systems because they are not doing their job; they are not helping people out of poverty. In fact, the Libertarian Party says they are doing just the opposite, and now that officials have realized this, they are trying to make up for it. However, they are doing so in the wrogn ways. The welfare reform has pushed

“Welfare epitomizes America’s basic bargain, providing opportunity and in return, demanding responsibility” (Clinton). When President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted Welfare in 1966, it was a system envisioned to be an aide for the common man; a support structure that would prevent financial disasters for the individual. Since that time, Welfare has been reformed, deformed, and become abused by the very people it was created to empower. Welfare has been manipulated into a way of life for over 40 million Americans through outrageous benefits and unearned paychecks being supplied at an endless rate. This issue harms not only the economy as a whole, but also the individuals who receive such benefits. Welfare checks have become free handouts to

According to the book, Welfare. Helping Hand or Trap, by Anne E. Weiss it shows many statistics of how welfare has cost the government an astronomical amount of money. In 1995 an excess amount of money, 17 million dollars was taken from the annual taxpayers. The money was collected and redistributed amongst the society in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Welfare Programs. Today, the U.S.A spends even more on welfare programs than in 1995. It was recorded last year; the U.S.A spent well over three hundred billion dollars just on welfare programs (Federman). The statistics show this number has increased over a hundred billion dollars just from the last ten years (Westfall). In just 2014, 109,631,000 million people were recorded to be living off of welfare (Weiss). Although the intention of the program is meant to have a positive effect, it seems to be doing the complete opposite for some. Unfortunately, the current government system does not have enough checks and balances to ensure those who receive aid are truly using it to help them begin to step out of their poverty trap. In truth, why should hard working taxpayers be coerced to take financial responsibility for those who take advantage of the current system and do not take responsibility for

Welfare is the savior to many poor and helpless families in our country today, providing health care, food stamps, child care assistance, unemployment, cash aid, and housing assistance to those who can’t afford it. Saving the lives of countless people, and most of all, children every year. The disclaimer? The United States Welfare Program is severely abused and misused by millions of lazy, incompetent, and very capable individuals daily.

In 1977, Peter Goldmark, the director for the state of New York, said, "Welfare, is hated by those who administer it, mistrusted by those who pay for it, and held in contempt by those who receive it" (Auerbach 2016). Goldmark's statement still rings true today. People have found a way to live off of welfare. They have figured out how to live off of another person's hard worked for money. It is unfair to those who are working to make a living to have to support people who do not even try to support themselves. People have become so entitled today that they believe that the world owes them. We owe it to ourselves to work for the lifestyle we want. We have to work for what we want because no one else should have to for us. It is understandable

Have you ever really questioned the amount of misusage of the Government aid? If so, did you know that Welfare misuse is more common then any average person may think. According to welfareinfo.org, 434,977 people are currently being aided with finical help with the United States. Which is only this year, it will only increase as the years go by. That isn’t only a lot of money that is being deducted by hard working people, but at least half of it is being misused. The start of what we today know as Welfare was created long before today’s programs we know were created. When looking up the definition of Welfare it is defined as financial support given to people in need. (Dictionary). These programs were created to aid those in need.

Every year Americans pay $59 billion on welfare, and that is just the traditional welfare that doesn't even include the other expenses our tax dollars pay for (Sinn). In 2013 a law was passed in North Carolina that made it so that everyone that was on welfare or wanted to get on welfare would have to be checked to make sure they haven't been convicted for anything (federal and state laws and regulations). The states should make it required that everyone that wants to be on welfare should be drug tested and have background checks. The state should also regulate what they spend their money it on, working in a grocery store i have noticed that people spend more of the welfare money on junk food, TV dinners and unhealthy food. They should set regulations such as WIC has done so that our tax dollars are better being spent. The people will still be able to get enough food and it will help them get the nutrition they need to get back on their feet.

When you hear the words “welfare” what comes to mind? To me, the word welfare has always had a very negative connotation. However, after looking further into the concept behind it all, welfare isn’t always such a bad thing. In general, welfare provides financial stability for those who are otherwise unable to do so. Welfare can be very beneficial to a multitude of people with many different ways to make life easier. Welfare in the United States refers to a federal welfare program that has been put into place to benefit unemployed people or just your average lower class person. The most common forms of welfare are Medicaid and food stamps. Believe it or not, a welfare program is not a new idea. Welfare has started long before we were

Some people take advantage of welfare. For example, “Growing up, my mother was a recipient who abused the welfare system. I remember having no heat or electricity and being so hungry it was painful. My siblings and I would fist fight over food. She would trade her food stamp card for various things like cash, cigarettes and an occasional joint.” There should be rules on welfare because people take advantage of it. People also take advantage of disability leave, they think the government won't notice if they actually don't need it like others in poor situations do. Some people that do need it still don’t accept it because it looks weak and the people that do take it, take advantage of the system.