Many of those in who are in need of help are the unemployed , disabled, and poor. Social welfare programs have been around n America for many years and have helped many people, although many people also view social welfare as a disadvantage to many Americans, mainly those who are employed and working hard. (“The History of Welfare”, US Welfare System) Over 100 years ago, John Stuart Mill wrote an essay “On Liberty’ and his essay he stated “Energy and self-dependence are as likely to be impaired by the absence of help as by its excess. (Mill) Many people disagreed with this statement, due to their belief that many of the people receiving help from social welfare will eventually become dependent upon he programs rather than achieve independence from the help they are receiving. “They will point to the fact that today in America there are almost 5-1/2 million individuals dependent upon the government for public assistance to meet their daily needs. ” (Altimeter, page 3) Many people Will only see the negative sides to social welfare programs, rather than view the big picture. Many people also compare the programs and spending used today to the past.
When people do these comparisons they are failing to realize that also today the population in the United States has increased greatly than it had been. “Some Issues Facing Social Welfare Today”, Altimeter) Welfare began in America way before the government created the welfare programs we know of today. The United States first used the laws from Britain known as the British Poor Laws, which benefited and to identify the differences between people who were not employed but were also not able to work due to their age or disabilities such as their physical health and those who were able to were but were still unemployed.
In 1862 the Civil War Pension Program was created and passed which aided to Civil War Veterans and their families. President Roosevelt brought forth the Social Security Act in 1935 and was established in 1939, this act created a number of programs which provided aid to multiple variations of people in need of help. The Social Security Act provided America with unemployment compensation and FDA, which are two programs that are still used throughout the United States today.
President Clinton appointed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1 996, this act dispenses annual amounts of money from the government to the states to aid the poor. Many agencies have been created to watch over the welfare programs, a few of those agencies in the United States are the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Labor, the Department of Agriculture, and The Department of Education. “The History of Welfare”, US Welfare System) Poverty continues to grow and increase each day in the United States. There are many programs throughout social welfare that have been established to help attend to many of the people in need of help. A few of those are Food Stamps, Head Start, and Medicaid. Each Of these provides aid to the basic needs such as health care, food, education, and money. Food Stamps is a program that was developed to help low-income families to acquire food for themselves and their family.
This program helps to prevent families from not being able to put food on the table. To apply for this program, anyone can pick up an application at a local food stamp office or Social Security. Any person who applies for Food Stamps must be a United States citizen, United States national, or have a qualified alien status and obtain a Social Security number. Those who applied will be interviewed and must bring with them proof of identification, income, all bills, childcare expenses, receipts for mortgage payments.
To be eligible to receive Food Stamps the family cannot have over $2,000 in resources, unless there is a person over the age of 60 or a person who is disabled then they can have a total of $3,000, there are limits on incomes which can vary. Head Start provides finances locally and to private agencies to solely provide money to financially disadvantaged children and families with resources to achieve a good education. This program focuses on early childhood development to help students acquire the skills needed to be successful in their education and school.
Medicaid is a program used to help low-income families afford medical care. This program is administered through the state, which means the requirements for each person will vary. It is set up to send all payments directly to health care providers, but in some states people are asked to make co-payments for certain services. To be eligible for this program, applicants must have met certain income and resource requirements. These funds are given based on financial need and the severity of health problems and expenses. Another program for social welfare is known as the SSI, or Supplemental Security Income.
The SSI was establish in 1972, when President Nixon signed the Social Security Amendments. This program provides cash to low-income Americans who are over the age of 65 and those under the age of 65 but are disabled or blind. When referring to disability this refers to both physical and mental disabilities. At first in 1994, those who had a drug addiction and alcoholism also accounted for being disabled, but in 1996 that was then changed to them not being required as disabled. Those who are apart Of this program will receive a set amount of cash each month.
When viewing the chart below you learn that over the years those who receive money from this program are mainly disabled and increasing each year and that those who are aged or Lind that are receiving money has slowly began to decline. (“SSI”, Federal Safety Net) (“Types of Social Welfare”, Robert Holmes) As there are many views on social welfare on whether or not these programs truly work, there are many issues that come along with having these programs. Many people take advantage of these programs and become rather dependent upon them.
With that being said, many people who are unemployed and getting help from such programs continue to remain unemployed when the programs are there to help provide stability to allow them to have the chance to become employed. “Last year the Wall Street Journal reported that 49% of the population lives in a household where at least one person gets some type of government benefit. ” (Matt Spalding of CNN, 2012) America is culture that supports opportunities and encouragement Of working, rather than people solely relying on hand-outs.
There are so many social welfare programs out there today, but there are only in which require people to be employed and working to receive their benefits from that program. (away the U. S. Has a culture of dependency’, Spalding, CNN) In conclusion, believe that social welfare is both a disadvantage and advantage. Social welfare is helpful among many people ND many people do use and need the help they receive in order to enhance and better there own lives for themselves and their families.