Welfare Programs Essay, Research Paper

Government’s Welfare Programs

For a long time now, since the accomplished formation of a stable

government, the U.S government has had programs and passed laws that either

dealt with issues of or influence family. Many of these ?family? programs and

laws currently in place today are frequently and commonly debated. One of the

most debated and most labored over ?family? programs or law is Welfare. The

argument is whether or not to, and how welfare should be cut or minimized.

The debate is simple enough, but the argument on welfare’s benefits and

drawbacks is not. On the pro side of the argument, on which I stand, welfare

aids poor families as well as the economy and may help to reduce crime.

Welfare’s benefits far out weigh its drawbacks. Welfare generally helps poor

families survive in today’s economy by providing a means for them to obtain food

while they search for a job. These families receive foodstamps, to purchase food,

and a small amount of dollars to aid with either rent or utilities. Because of

this income from welfare, crime is reduced. This is because there is now more

income so the poor no longer have the need to go out and commit crimes to

attain that income. Welfare also aids in improving the economy because the

children of these families can afford to go to school and have a chance to make

someone of themselves. Instead of enrolling in welfare themselves, in the future

these people will make contributions to the economy and will be tax paying

citizens.

On the contrary, welfare is currently a great government expense that

tax payers pay for. Federal tax rates throughout the country are extremely high

and welfare, along with Medicare and Medicaid, are main contributors. The

purpose of welfare is to aid a person with monetary need in getting by until

they can find a job to support themselves, but this seldom occurs. Some argue

that there are plenty of poor families that get along without welfare and its

benefits. These people argue that the heads of these families have multiple jobs

and work extremely hard to get by, while others just sit and collect a welfare

check from the government. I feel that this is unfair to the hard workers, and

unfair to us tax payers. Others say that these people are in their present

situation because of their own ill choices in life and that the government owes

them nothing. It is also true that there exist a great number of people that

abuse the welfare program. These individuals may enroll in welfare without the

intention of ever getting a job. Others trade foodstamps for cash or drugs.

These ideas, or facts, can be used as a valid argument for the dismantling, or

at least minimizing, of the welfare program.

Currently steps are being taken by the government to reduce the number

of welfare recipients as well as to minimize spending on the program itself. The

president recently introduced his ?Workfare? plan. This plan, by forcing

individuals to both work and search for work and by ultimately truncating their

welfare benefits, should reduce both the number of people on welfare and the

number of future enrollments.

The pro’s and con’s of welfare are clear. I am somewhat partial to the

idea of down sizing, but am not a hard-line thinker and believe that the program

should be left in place. The drain from welfare on tax payer money, although

great , is decreasing as more and more people get off welfare and begin work.