Facts about Welfare History of Welfare Welfare has always been around, from the beginning of the United States to our current time. Although the form welfare has taken has changed throughout the years. In the early days of our country they used the British Poor Laws. However, the history of welfare as we know it really started during the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt started the Social Security Act, which set up various programs designed to provide help to different people (US Welfare System). There were agencies that were created to watch over the welfare programs. A few of them are the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Department of Labor (US Welfare System). While there are other agencies created these are the main ones that most of us have heard about. The Qualifications to have Welfare While the qualifications that determine whether you are able to have welfare change from state to state. However, there are basic requirements that are all relatively the same between the states. Basic Eligibility Requirements A basic lack of gainful employment opportunity through either lack of places of employment or lack of job skill. A commitment to self-sufficiency is necessary before any potential recipient can begin to receive benefits. A commitment of cooperation must be signed by the head of household that they will comply with and continue all regulation and requirements while receiving aid. Dependent children must living in the household. All minors must be attending school during school days. All minors and dependents must be fully and appropriately immunized. The recipient must be 18 years of age. You must be a legal and permanent resident of the state to which you are applying. You must be a citizen of the United States or a qualified non-citizen legal resident. A commitment to complete accuracy and honesty during the program. All monetary resources must be divulged. This includes cash in the home, in checking or saving accounts and items of value of possession such as jewelry or electronics. A household budget must be created and adhered to. Of course these vary from state to state but these are the basics (US Welfare System). Types of Welfare Available There are several types of welfare available. Of course they do vary from state to state but some of the more used ones are Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, The Food Stamp
Program, Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, Housing Assistance, The Earned Income Tax Credit and Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Of course there are smaller ones such as the Women, Infants and Children Program, General Assistance and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. All of these pay cash or are there to help with food, cost of utilities in the home and help with dependent children. Of course you have Medicaid and that helps with medical situations if you can t afford them (Welfare: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics). Percentage of People on Welfare The total amount of American s on welfare is 15,000,000. The percentage of the US population on welfare is 4.1 percent. The total government spending on welfare annually, not including food stamps or unemployment, is 131.9 billion dollars. The percentage of recipients who are white is 38.8 percent. The percentage of recipients who are black is 39.8 percent. The percent of recipients who are Hispanic is 15.7 percent. The percent of recipients who are Asian is 2.4 percent and the percent of recipients who are other is 3.3 percent. More Welfare Statistics The total amount of money you can make monthly and still receive welfare is 1,000 dollars. The total number of U.S. States where welfare pays more than an eight dollar per hour job is 40 states. The number of U.S. States where welfare pays more than a 12 dollar per hour job is seven states. The number of U.S. States where welfare pays more than the average salary of a U.S. Teacher is nine states. Also, the top ten hourly wage equivalent welfare states in the U.S. are: Hawaii-17.50 per hour, Alaska-15.48 per hour, Massachusetts-14.66 per hour, Connecticut-14.23 per hour, Washington, D.C.-13.99 per hour, New York-13.13 per hour, New Jersey- 12.55 per hour, Rhode Island-12.55 per hour, California-11.59 per hour and Virginia-11.11 per hour (Welfare Statistics). Who is in Charge of Welfare There isn t just one group in charge of welfare. As I previous stated about the agencies that were created to oversee the welfare programs they are also the ones who decide who gets what when it comes to welfare. Of course each agency is in charge of their own programs (List of Government Welfare Programs). How Welfare Helps Those Who Need It Welfare is used as a stepping stool to help families go from struggling to stable. While this does take awhile for some, others find stability quickly thanks to welfare. Welfare is separated into two different categories, social and economic programs. Social welfare includes any program designed to help disadvantaged people function in society. Economic welfare usually refers to financial support. The main purpose for economic welfare is for those who are unemployed, underemployment, hardships, unskilled labor capacity or disability. Most programs require proof of financial need as compared to a set standard in order to receive benefits. This is due to
abuse of the system. The benefits that some people receive through welfare can be in several forms, such as, direct cash, support services, tax breaks, specific goods or any other measure that provides assistance. When direct cash is dealt out it can be disbursed however the receiver wishes, which is why most benefits are dealt out with the other forms of service. The more common form of benefits used are health care, vouchers for child care, electronic bank cards for groceries, subsidized rent, tax discounts, job assistance and programs for alcohol and substance abuse. There are several other forms of help that are given but these are the main ones. Welfare is set up to help those in need get back on their feet, of course there has been welfare abuse, which has caused stricter regulations (US Welfare System). Obama s Plan for Welfare Romney released a television ad saying that Obama wishes to gut welfare reform by dropping the work requirements. Many politicians, including Republicans, came out saying that this ad was very misleading. What Obama actually plans on doing for welfare is providing states a waiver that will change the work requirements for those on welfare. States must submit plans for a demonstration project that provides a more efficient of effective means to promote employment. They also must submit an evaluation plan that includes a set of performance measures that states track to monitor ongoing performances and outcomes. States must also set up interim performance targets and if states fail to meet those, they will be required to develop improvement plans. And repeated failure to meet performance benchmarks will result in termination of the waiver demonstration pilot (fastcheck.org). Romney s Plan for Welfare I couldn t find much about his plan because everything I found is him talking about Obama s plan. But from what I read Romney wants to keep the plan how it was when Clinton first started it, but he wants to add more work requirements to the receivers of welfare. He believes that by adding more requirements that will increase the number of receivers that will get a job and won t need welfare anymore. He doesn t agree with Obama s plan because he believes Obama is handing out checks for be lazy, however, Romney and other Republican Governors have in the past asked as Governor for more flexibility in the welfare department (Mitt Romney for President).
Figure 1 Chart of families in poverty Figure 2 Comic about welfare
Works Cited Commerce, Department of. Welfare Statistics. 26 July 2012. 4 October 2012. <http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/>. Kiely, Eugene. Does Obama's Plan Gut Welfare Reform? 9 August 2012. 4 October 2012. <http://www.factcheck.org/2012/08/does-obamas-plan-gut-welfare-reform/>. MaCurdy, Thomas Jones, Jeffery. Library of Economics and Liberty. n.d. 4 October 2012. <http://www.econlib.org/library/enc/welfare.html>. Press, Mitt Romney. Press Releases. 7 August 2012. 4 October 2012. <http://www.mittromney.com/news/press/2012/08/mitt-romney-we-must-restore-workwelfare>. Welfare Information. 2012. 4 October 2012. <http://www.welfareinfo.org/history/>. Welfare Information. 2012. 4 October 2012. <http://www.welfareinfo.org/programs/>. Welfare Information. 2012. 4 October 2012. <http://www.welfareinfo.org/uses/>.