Illegitimacy And Welfare Essay, Research Paper

Instead of trying to get women off of welfare, government should try lowering the illegitimacy rate. To decrease poverty you must decrease illegitimacy first.

For decades, the United States government has been trying to solve the problem of poverty. The first true attempt came in 1964, when President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the federal governments “War on Poverty”. Johnsons welfare plan called for huge amounts of taxpayers money to be devoted to helping the poor. His plan provided cash, food, clothing, and other social services to low income Americans.

The push to reform welfare started in 1993 when President Bill Clinton made the declaration of “ending welfare as we know it”. Since then many proposals have been looked at and debated. Finally on August 22, 1996 the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, or the Welfare Reform Act, was signed into law by Bill Clinton. The act was supposed to “end welfare as we know it”. The main points of the Welfare Reform Act were a two-year time limit in which a person can be on welfare and a lifetime limit of five years on welfare. The plan alson ends the Afdc (Aid for Families with Dependent Children) program and in it place, a tougher child supports enforcement agency.

Illegitimacy is one of the main reasons why we need welfare. It is hard enough for single women to support themselves, but with a child, it is even harder. Most single women must then turn to the government to seek assistance and support for themselves and their children.