Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Welfare is a government program that provides money, medical care, food,

housing, and other things that people need in order to survive. People who can

receive help from these welfare programs are children, elders, disabled, and

others who cannot support their families on their current income. Another name

for welfare is public assistance. There are many organizations that supply this

public assistance. Such as Salvation Army and other groups. Public assistance

benefits help many people who live below the poverty line, an income level is

established for families. If your income is below this you would be eligible to

receive this help. Welfare in the United States Federal and state governments in

the Unites States serve the poor people through about 60 public assistance

programs. Most people receive help through one of the four major programs. These

programs are Medicaid, Aid to families with dependant Children, Social Security,

or Supplemental Security, or the food stamps program. I will discuss the four

programs individually. Medicaid provides free medical care to the poor people.

Funds vary from state to state. In some situations, people who may be able to

pay daily needs, but can’t afford large medical bills may also be able to

receive Medicaid. Some services paid for are bills such as doctor’s visits and

nursing home care. Most Medicaid funding comes from the federal government. The

rest is supplied by the state. Each state runs their own Medicaid program.

A.F.D.C. provides cash benefits to dependent children and the parents or the

guardians taking care of them. Most families that qualify for A.F.D.C. have just

one parent in the home. About 80 percent of these families are headed by a

woman. A.F.D.C. also pays benefits to two-parent families if both parents are

unemployed. Most A.F.D.C. funding comes from the federal government. The states

provide the rest of the money and administer the program. The sizes of families’

payment vary from state to state. Next is Social Security Income. This provides

financial Aid to people in need who are at least 65 years old, blind, or

disabled. The federal government finances and administers social security income

programs in most states, though some states supply the federal payment and are

able to run their own programs. Finally, the Food Stamp Program helps low-income

households buy more and better food than they could otherwise afford. Each

participating household receives a certain number of coupons called food stamps.

The stamps are issued by the federal government. The number of stamps a

household receives varies with the family’s size, income, and expenses.

Cooperating grocery stores accept the stamps like money for food purchases only.

There are other programs such as energy assistance and public housing. Energy

assistance, which is federally financed but administered by the states, helps

people pay fuel bills. Public housing provides low cost rental apartments in

government owned buildings. State and local governments fund and administer

their own general assistance programs. These programs provide financial aid for

needy people who do not qualify for other types of welfare. People waiting to

receive assistance from other programs also may get temporary emergency aid from

general assistance. Back in the early days, welfare resembled the English

system. Social governments were responsible for helping the poor. But the

colonies and later the states, sometimes helped the local government provide

aid. The first federal welfare program, began after the Revolutionary War, they

provided pensions to war veterans. During the Civil War these pensions were

expanded to cover soldiers’ widows and orphans. In the early 1900’s, primary

responsibility for providing welfare benefits shifted from local to state

governments. During these years, states enacted programs to aid dependent

children and the elderly. The criticisms of welfare ranges over a number of

social and economic issues. Some people criticize welfare programs for not

providing high enough benefits to eliminate poverty. Spending on welfare would

have to increase greatly to eliminate poverty, and many people believe the cost

is already too high. Many critics of the welfare system charge that providing a

steady income to needy people encourages idleness. Actually, most welfare

benefits go to elderly, blind, and disabled people and mothers with young

children. But welfare does discourage some recipients from working harder by

reducing benefits if their income increases. Many people also criticize the

welfare system for being too complex and costly to administer. Each program has

its own eligibility requirements and ways of calculating benefits, and these

rules vary from state to state. Public officials collect detailed information

about applicants to determine their eligibility for benefits. This process is

time-consuming and costly. Some people cheat the system by not reporting all the

income they earn. But suppliers of services to welfare recipients account for

most of the fraud in welfare. Some physicians, pharmacists, and others have been

overpaid because they have made up false bills. In my opinion I believe you need

welfare because people do need help. But I would lower its percent because it

won’t hurt that much. Most importantly we have to do a better job at finding all

the people who cheat the program and make them work to repay it.