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What is welfare? According to recent polls, most Americans
consider this nation's welfare system “a failure and a disgrace” (LeVert
10). Most people use the word “welfare” to mean income support or public
assistance programs designed to help people who are already poor. Although
it is geared to poverty-stricken people, families, and children, most
people have benefited from government aid or assistance programs, in other
worRAB, “welfare.”
Poverty in America is a disease for which there is plenty of
treatment, but no known cure. In the essay, “On Dumpster Diving,” Lars
Eighner describes what life is like scavenging for food, and living on the
street. In order to survive he had to “dumpster dive.” Eighner describes
this as scrounging dumpsters for his basic neeRAB, food and clothing (19).
Whatever he eats, drinks, or wears come from dumpsters. The unfortunate
circumstances that led to his situation occur to millions of people
throughout the country. The growing problem of homelessness is worsened by
the welfare programs that offer subsistence rather than opportunities, or
incentives (Long 23). Federal expenditures for public and private low-cost
housing have been cut from $30 billion, in 1981, to $7 billion in 1987, and
only about 4 million of 10 million eligible householRAB receive federal
rental assistance of any kind (Long 29).
In the essay, “A Nation of Welfare Families,” Stephanie Coontz
discusses her belief that all families in American history have depended on
the legislative, judicial, and social structures set up by the government
(Coontz 994). The suburban family of the 1950s was far more dependent on
government assistance than any so-called underclass family of today (Coontz
995). Federal GI benefit payments, available to forty percent of the male
population between the ages twenty and thirty-four, permitted a whole
generation of men to expand their education and improve their job with The
National Defense Education Act (Coontz 996). Government spending was
largely responsible for the new highways, sewer systems, utility services,
and traffic control programs that expanded the suburbs. In the postwar
period, the Federal Housing Authority, supplemented by the GI Bill, put the
federal government in the business of regulating loans for single home
construction. FHA policy required a down payment of only five to t en
percent of the purchase price and guaranteed mortgages of up to thirty
years at interest rates of just two to three percent (Coontz 995).
The current welfare system tries to help the poor in the form of
in-kind benefits, not cash assistance. These programs aim to improve the
quality of life of those without enough money for food, shelter, medical
care, or education. Such programs include food subsides such as the Food
Stamp Program, the School Lunch Program, and the Women and Child Nutrition
Program; medical insurance or Medicaid; housing subsides, which provide
public housing or vouchers toward rental assistance; and Low-Income Home
Energy Assistance, which helps needy families pay their energy costs
(LeVert 40).
Although there is a great amount of welfare given to the poor most
people benefit in some way from our system of social welfare. The retired
person who collects Social Security checks, the low-income family who
receive Food Stamps, the college student who is granted a low-interest
federal student loan, and the worker who collects unemployment after losing
their job are all beneficiaries of the system of welfare. Composed of more
than two hundred federal and state programs, the welfare system is a
complex patchwork of social insurance, means-tested programs, and includes
cash assistance and non-cash, or in-kind benefits (LeVert 36). In 1992,
total expenditures for all of these programs amounted to about $700 billion
with more than two-thirRAB of this money spent on only three programs:
Social Security, Medicaid, and Unemployment Insurance (LeVert 39). Almost
everyone in this country will benefit presently, or in the future from
these three programs.
Social Security provides cash assistance to retired citizens who
are sixty-two years of age or older, survivors of deceased workers, and
those forced to retire because of disability. In 1991, the federal
government allowed an individual to receive a maximum of $1022 a month, and
the average Social Security pension for a worker who retired at age sixty-
five, however, amounted to about $602 a month (LeVert 47). When one
retires he or she will receive social security, as financial assistance
paid for by the government, or in other worRAB, welfare.
Medicare provides limited medical coverage to elderly citizens.
Beneficiaries commonly contribute to the cost of insurance, and because the
services it provides are limited, many people must purchase additional
medical insurance. This program accounts for about 22 percent of all
social insurance costs. Unemployment insurance is available to workers who
are involuntarily unemployed. Benefits are based on a percentage of past
earnings and are funded through employers' payroll tax. Although the
maximum duration of benefits for an unemployed person is usually twenty-six
weeks, a state may extend this coverage if its unemployment rate exceeRAB a
certain percentage. The amount a worker may collect depenRAB on the salary
earned, but a maximum weekly amount is fixed by each state. These maximums
range from about $100 to $300 a week, and in 1992, a total of $37 billion
was spent in funding this program (Maloney 11).
In conclusion, whether in the past, present or future one will be
the beneficiary of government aid. People receive federal assistance from
the government but are reluctant to refer to it as “welfare” because of the
stigma surrounding this controversial topic. Welfare is not just for the
poor, in fact, even the wealth benefit from federal aid in some ways.
Whatever reforms re made to our welfare system one thing is certain, they
will need to be reexamined regularly because the effect everyone living in
this country
Works Cited
Coontz, Stephanie. “A Nation of Welfare Families.” The Norton Reader. Ed.
Linda H. Peterson et al. 9th ed. New York, 1996. 993-997.
Eighner, Lars. “On Dumpster Diving.” The Norton Reader. Ed. Linda H.
Peterson et al. 9th ed. New York, 1996. 19-29.
LeVert, Marianne. The Welfare System. New York: The Millbrook Press, 1995.
Long, Robert Emmet. The Welfare Debate. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company,
1989.
Maloney, Lawrence. “Welfare in America: Is it a Flop?” U.S. News & World
Report. Dec. 1984: 10+.
[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 1027 [/FONT]
What is welfare? According to recent polls, most Americans
consider this nation's welfare system “a failure and a disgrace” (LeVert
10). Most people use the word “welfare” to mean income support or public
assistance programs designed to help people who are already poor. Although
it is geared to poverty-stricken people, families, and children, most
people have benefited from government aid or assistance programs, in other
worRAB, “welfare.”
Poverty in America is a disease for which there is plenty of
treatment, but no known cure. In the essay, “On Dumpster Diving,” Lars
Eighner describes what life is like scavenging for food, and living on the
street. In order to survive he had to “dumpster dive.” Eighner describes
this as scrounging dumpsters for his basic neeRAB, food and clothing (19).
Whatever he eats, drinks, or wears come from dumpsters. The unfortunate
circumstances that led to his situation occur to millions of people
throughout the country. The growing problem of homelessness is worsened by
the welfare programs that offer subsistence rather than opportunities, or
incentives (Long 23). Federal expenditures for public and private low-cost
housing have been cut from $30 billion, in 1981, to $7 billion in 1987, and
only about 4 million of 10 million eligible householRAB receive federal
rental assistance of any kind (Long 29).
In the essay, “A Nation of Welfare Families,” Stephanie Coontz
discusses her belief that all families in American history have depended on
the legislative, judicial, and social structures set up by the government
(Coontz 994). The suburban family of the 1950s was far more dependent on
government assistance than any so-called underclass family of today (Coontz
995). Federal GI benefit payments, available to forty percent of the male
population between the ages twenty and thirty-four, permitted a whole
generation of men to expand their education and improve their job with The
National Defense Education Act (Coontz 996). Government spending was
largely responsible for the new highways, sewer systems, utility services,
and traffic control programs that expanded the suburbs. In the postwar
period, the Federal Housing Authority, supplemented by the GI Bill, put the
federal government in the business of regulating loans for single home
construction. FHA policy required a down payment of only five to t en
percent of the purchase price and guaranteed mortgages of up to thirty
years at interest rates of just two to three percent (Coontz 995).
The current welfare system tries to help the poor in the form of
in-kind benefits, not cash assistance. These programs aim to improve the
quality of life of those without enough money for food, shelter, medical
care, or education. Such programs include food subsides such as the Food
Stamp Program, the School Lunch Program, and the Women and Child Nutrition
Program; medical insurance or Medicaid; housing subsides, which provide
public housing or vouchers toward rental assistance; and Low-Income Home
Energy Assistance, which helps needy families pay their energy costs
(LeVert 40).
Although there is a great amount of welfare given to the poor most
people benefit in some way from our system of social welfare. The retired
person who collects Social Security checks, the low-income family who
receive Food Stamps, the college student who is granted a low-interest
federal student loan, and the worker who collects unemployment after losing
their job are all beneficiaries of the system of welfare. Composed of more
than two hundred federal and state programs, the welfare system is a
complex patchwork of social insurance, means-tested programs, and includes
cash assistance and non-cash, or in-kind benefits (LeVert 36). In 1992,
total expenditures for all of these programs amounted to about $700 billion
with more than two-thirRAB of this money spent on only three programs:
Social Security, Medicaid, and Unemployment Insurance (LeVert 39). Almost
everyone in this country will benefit presently, or in the future from
these three programs.
Social Security provides cash assistance to retired citizens who
are sixty-two years of age or older, survivors of deceased workers, and
those forced to retire because of disability. In 1991, the federal
government allowed an individual to receive a maximum of $1022 a month, and
the average Social Security pension for a worker who retired at age sixty-
five, however, amounted to about $602 a month (LeVert 47). When one
retires he or she will receive social security, as financial assistance
paid for by the government, or in other worRAB, welfare.
Medicare provides limited medical coverage to elderly citizens.
Beneficiaries commonly contribute to the cost of insurance, and because the
services it provides are limited, many people must purchase additional
medical insurance. This program accounts for about 22 percent of all
social insurance costs. Unemployment insurance is available to workers who
are involuntarily unemployed. Benefits are based on a percentage of past
earnings and are funded through employers' payroll tax. Although the
maximum duration of benefits for an unemployed person is usually twenty-six
weeks, a state may extend this coverage if its unemployment rate exceeRAB a
certain percentage. The amount a worker may collect depenRAB on the salary
earned, but a maximum weekly amount is fixed by each state. These maximums
range from about $100 to $300 a week, and in 1992, a total of $37 billion
was spent in funding this program (Maloney 11).
In conclusion, whether in the past, present or future one will be
the beneficiary of government aid. People receive federal assistance from
the government but are reluctant to refer to it as “welfare” because of the
stigma surrounding this controversial topic. Welfare is not just for the
poor, in fact, even the wealth benefit from federal aid in some ways.
Whatever reforms re made to our welfare system one thing is certain, they
will need to be reexamined regularly because the effect everyone living in
this country
Works Cited
Coontz, Stephanie. “A Nation of Welfare Families.” The Norton Reader. Ed.
Linda H. Peterson et al. 9th ed. New York, 1996. 993-997.
Eighner, Lars. “On Dumpster Diving.” The Norton Reader. Ed. Linda H.
Peterson et al. 9th ed. New York, 1996. 19-29.
LeVert, Marianne. The Welfare System. New York: The Millbrook Press, 1995.
Long, Robert Emmet. The Welfare Debate. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company,
1989.
Maloney, Lawrence. “Welfare in America: Is it a Flop?” U.S. News & World
Report. Dec. 1984: 10+.
[/FONT]
[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 1027 [/FONT]