SUBJECT: Improving the Welfare Policy in America

Posted: February 21st, 2020

Public Administration

Name

Institution

Public Administration

SUBJECT: Improving the Welfare Policy in America  

DATE: September 29, 2015

Statement of problem

America suffers great poverty despite being one of the most economically developed countries in the world. The initial aim of the welfare programs under the welfare reform act was to provide temporary assistance to individuals based on their poverty level needs. Despite the noble intentions, the presence of welfare policy has not done anything to reduce the poverty levels in the country. Instead, millions of people continue to live in poverty today. Moreover, the programs have increased cases of fraud and passivity. Many people are using them as a means of their daily sustenance and they are not looking for work. This comes at the expense of the well-meaning taxpayers who work hard for their income.

Overview of Current Policy

The government spends nearly one trillion dollars each year fighting poverty yet the poverty levels in the nation continues to increase. Federal welfare has increased under president Obama .however; the poverty levels in the country are close to what they were about forty years ago when president Lyndon declared war on poverty (Tanner, 2012). President Clinton initiated the welfare reforms that changed how the country helped the poor. This was in 1996 when he signed the welfare reform act. The Bush administration reauthorized the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The changes in the welfare programs helped to increase employment and reducing poverty. However, it affected the safety net for the poorest families.

The war on poverty began in 1960s with the creation of office of economic opportunity under President Johnson. The first programs included job corps, Medicare, the food stamp act, and Medicaid among others. The office was closed in 1970s under President Ford. This was after the expansion of different welfare programs. President Reagan and his administration were of the opinion that the programs did not help in ending poverty but that they encouraged welfare dependence and permissiveness. Instead he proposed growing the economy through tax cuts and creating employment opportunities for the poor. However, the country experienced a deep recession in the 1980s and this increased the rates of poverty.

The high standard of living has not helped the situation of poverty. Many people are willing to work and this is seen by the high number of people who have more than one job. However, the fact that they have so many needs continue increasing the poverty levels. The situation becomes worse because of the high number of fatherless families. Some families in many communities have to live with the fact that many of the men are incarcerated and this has affected their income. It means that many women are single and they have to provide for their families single handedly. This increases the number of people on welfare and the number of teenagers who have to look for employment.

Employment is better than welfare regardless of low pay. However, adults in many poor families tend to get unstable employment. This has helped to increase the poverty levels in the country because these adults do not receive any cash assistance. Moreover, many of the parents face barriers to employment yet they do not count towards the state’s work requirements. The introduced reforms failed to address the problems of work instability. Many welfare recipients move in and out of jobs. Some of the people who left welfare have not gone to work. Others went to work for a short time only.  

The federal government has come up with over one hundred programs aimed at fighting poverty. Some of these programs overlap and they are managed by different departments. For instance, there are over twenty food assistance programs and they are administered by three different departments in the federal government as well as an independent agency. Moreover, cash and general assistance programs are managed by six cabinet departments and five independent agencies. In addition to federal assistance, state and local governments provide additional assistance and they administer other programs.

Pros and Cons of Current Policy

The welfare policy looks good on the surface and it has some benefits. It communicates the message that the government is concerned about the wellbeing of its citizens. Of utmost importance is that it helps to provide for the necessities of poor families. This means that even the poorest people cannot starve or lack medical assistance. This ensures that people have some level of dignity in their lives. The welfare policy helps families in times of need. It is not just concerned with working with the poor families. It considers every American family that has a need at some point in their lives. The economic crisis has changed the fortunes of many middle class and wealthy families and some of them have become bankrupt. Such people are able to find some form of relief through welfare.

One of the major disadvantages of the welfare programs is its cost to the country’s economy. The government has to spend billions of dollars managing welfare programs. The welfare programs are meant to provide temporary assistance that will enable people to get back on their feet. However, this is not the case for some because they end up abusing the program. Some people have lied and committed other offenses in a bid to continue receiving welfare. The existence of the program means that some of the people will continue depending on it and they will not see any need of finding employment. This creates an unfair advantage to those who work and it encourages laziness. The welfare reforms addressed women’s needs yet it neglected the needs of the poor men. It was more concerned with addressing the needs of single mothers. However, the country does have a significant number of poor men. This created a gender divide and bias among the welfare recipients. The policy fails to target the needs of the poor people. The way that the policy is implemented has limitations, as it ends up benefiting people above the poverty line.

Proposed New Policy

Overcoming the limitations of the current policy regarding welfare will help in making it more effective. Changes in leadership perspective, engagement of the poor in policymaking, and creation of jobs will form the basis for the new policy. Leaders need to prioritize the way they spend money by considering the needs of the poor. The poor understand their needs better more than the authorities do and they should be included in policymaking. First, it is necessary to ensure that the welfare programs benefit the intended recipients. The poor should have a priority in receiving welfare. This means more oversight when considering the people eligible for welfare. It may also mean changing the law. Several people commit fraud as a way of getting welfare. The law should deal more severely with such people. This will discourage others from doing the same.

The government should combine financial incentives with work requirements. This will go a long way towards improving people’s income. It can also mean improving the lives of people by creating opportunities, such as the chance to advance their education. Increasing income generating activities such as employment will help in increasing self-sufficiency. Increasing the minimum wage will also help in improving the living standards for low skilled Americans and this will discourage welfare dependency. Demanding work as one of the conditions for receiving benefits will discourage passivity and encourage people to look for any form of employment. Being employed is better than having no job at all even though it means earning the minimum wage (Sawhill & Haskins, 2002).

Reason for Policy Adoption

The government should adopt this policy because it will be more effective in terms of ensuring the delivery of welfare programs to the poor. The minimum wage increase will help in reducing the number of people below the poverty level. Increasing oversight will ensure a reduction to fraud and ensure that only eligible people receive government assistance. Combining financial incentives with work requirements will encourage people to look for employment and to advance their education. Education is one of the main ways of ensuring that more people get opportunities. The poor people should not only receive medical and food assistance but they should also get financial assistance to enable them to improve their living standards. Children who have grown up in poverty are more likely to experience the same cycle as adults. Those who received welfare are more likely to continue with the same trends when they become adults. However, it is possible to eliminate the cyclical problems of poverty and welfare dependence by increasing opportunity through employment and job creation.

References:

Billiteri, J. T. (2007). Domestic poverty: is a new approach needed to help the poorest Americans?

Sawhill, V. I., & Haskins, R. (2002). Welfare reform and the work support system. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2002/03/welfare-sawhill

Tanner, M. (2012). The American welfare state: how we spend nearly $1trillion a year fighting poverty – and fail. CATO Institute. Retrieved from http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/PA694.pdf