Why Welfare Doesn't Work

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Amanda Smith Today in America, there are thousands of Americans are welfare for different reasons. Whether people lost their job and can’t afford their necessities, or possibly they don’t have motivation to get a job and want to live off the government’s money.

It could be that there is a single mother of two children who simply can’t afford the necessities for her children and herself even with a job, or maybe their handicapped or they are older and aren’t healthy enough to work and provide for themselves. Welfare is a program created by the government to improve the financial situation of people in need.

Many people today in America who are on welfare are abusing the program, whether they don’t find a job and continue to stay on welfare for years, or spend money on drugs or something not needed instead of paying bills and buying necessary items.

Other programs like Medicare and food stamps, to the elderly or the people that really need this help, are getting denied because they don’t qualify but yet they are barely providing for themselves or they can’t provide. Some of these programs that the government has created are not working the way they were meant to.

Welfare Doesn’t Work

Welfare is supposed to be good and helpful but it’s being seen as wasteful, not worth it by others, and simply has other issues that the government is in need of solving.

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It is supposed to be helping people such as single mothers get back on their feet, however many are abusing this help and having more children to continue receiving welfare money for a long period of time. People are not supposed to be on welfare for a long period of time, this program was meant to help people out temporarily so they could get back to work and provide for themselves, soon though, not years later (wikipedia).

However, it is making some people lazier by getting money just to sit at home and do nothing. Some people are not motivated to get a job, or simply do not want a job and would prefer to live on welfare for years and not even use that money for the right things like clothing, bills, etc. Welfare reforms have reduced the probability of women going to college, even finishing high school, which isn’t going to help them get a decent paying job (NBER). Many people on welfare are using that money for alcohol, drugs, gambling, etc. There is no law stating that people have to pass a drug test o receive welfare, but there should be some kind of procedure or questioning being done to people who are applying for welfare or for those who are already on welfare, to know whether they really deserve it if they are going to spend their money on the right or wrong thing (npr). As a working taxpayer, I contribute to the welfare system and I don’t really want to support an addiction to drugs. Government assistance is good for those people who don’t abuse it and are willing to take the random drug tests no matter how degrading or unnecessary it may be.

If people truly need the help, then they should be willing to do what it takes to receive that assistance. Many jobs require a drug test and if they don’t pass, they don’t get the job. It’s that simple. This should apply to welfare, if you don’t pass, you don’t get the benefits. Some people think that if you deny people these privileges that these people are going to steal and sell drugs to put food on the table (npr). Who’s to say that they won’t stop stealing or selling drugs? It’s not guaranteed.

To the people who aren’t abusing the system, it may be a little bit of a hassle to go through the drug test but it’s worth it. It’s better off helping the people who actually want help and are using this assistance the way it should be. Medicare is a health insurance program administered by the United States government for people over the age of 65 (wikipedia). This is another program that needs some things changed. One problem this program faces, is the diversity in the elderly. While this coverage starts at the age of 65, people 80 and over are benefiting from it more.

The medical needs of a 65 year old man could differ dramatically from an 80 year old man. Also, American seniors differ not only by age but also race, ethnicity, culture, and geographic region with different healthcare systems ( Freedom works). This program is trying to shove the needs of all the elderly, no matter how different their situations are, into one system that is going to help them all, and it’s not. A second problem with this program is the financial situation. As the baby boom generation begins to reach eligible age for Medicare, the cost will begin to rise dramatically.

Congress will attempt to impose cost-controls on a system already beginning to deliver inadequate care to the different people of the elderly population (Freedom works). Food stamps is a government program made to assist low income families receive food. Many families may have someone working but making very little or not enough to provide food on the table. However, many of these working families do not get the food stamps they really need. Between 1994 and 1999, the number of people receiving food stamps declined by 35% and poverty went down 15% (Food stamps for working families).

This decline in food stamp enrollment was because of families becoming ineligible because of income going up or welfare reform rules excluding certain groups from receiving food stamps. Many families have left welfare for work and have lost their food stamps because of this. They were looking to keep the food stamps for the transition of their family. It’s not fair that these people who are actually working and trying to make some money for their family are not receiving the food stamps when they really need them.

There is also people who sell their food stamps for their necessities, and some who sell them for illegal substances. (Selling food stamps for kid‘s shoes). It has a little similarity to welfare. Many people who receive the stamps are supposed to be buying healthy groceries for themselves, and their family, but many don’t. They resort to cheap and fatty food, like McDonald’s then they can still have money left over for other things, for necessities, or not. It’s not surprising that some lower-income families have weight problems because of what they’re doing with their food stamps.

The programs that the government have created are meant to help people, and to some they are. There are many Americans though who are abusing the system and it can be difficult to catch these people. They all have flaws in them that are pretty controversial and difficult to amend, and some people don‘t think these aren‘t such a huge problem as other things are in today‘s society. How each of these problems are solved in each program will be a difficult task, if the government decides to do it.

I think these programs need to be fixed immediately, before the costs for these programs becomes too much and things get out of hand. Bibliography “Welfare Reform Has Led to More Work but Less Education” National Bureau of Economic Research. 6 May 2010. “Reform as I Knew It: When Bad Things Happen to Good Policies” 1 May 1996. The American Prospect. 6 May 2010. “Medicare’s Two Fundamental Problems” 17 July 2003. Freedom Works. 6 May 2010. “Welfare” Wikipedia. 6 May 2010. “Medicare” Wikipedia. 6 May 2010. “Selling Food Stamp’s For Kid’s Shoes” 16 February 2010. Urban Habitat. 6 May 2010.