Research Paper on US Welfare Dependency: A Low-Income Vitality for Citizens

Introduction

Welfare dependency refers to a condition whereby a person or a certain commodity relies on the government welfare benefits for their income for a quite long period of time and under a benefit to most states since it helps in providing both long and short term benefits to the individuals/citizens. It provides low income to various individuals and families altogether. One of the well-known countries for exercising this program is the United States of America. The United States of America is referred to as the welfare queen (Abramovitz, 2017). However, most people regard this program as a great source of poverty and bring other unintended consequences in most states. Though most people stereotype this program, it is of great importance to the needy individuals since they cannot make ends meet even after being offered jobs.

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Background Information on Welfare Dependency Programs in the USA

In the United States of America, Welfare dependency works out things well. For instance, the embraced programs get funds from the government. These programs include; temporary assistance for needy families, Medicaid, supplemental nutrition assistance programs, supplemental security income program, income tax credit assistance and another program that deals with housing (Olsen, 2015). These programs act as government subsidies or the poor since they can sustain themselves in a given community by proving that their income is below the set target of the government's poverty level. The application of welfare programs in USA has necessitated a better standard of living among individuals and families since they depend on the government. Some of the benefits that the needy in USA obtain from the federal government include; cash, housing, food, medical cover and other social services that essential to these individuals. The welfare programs have made the USA obtain a culture of dependency.

Several generations in the United States of America have been issues to people so that they can obtain the most needed needs. All the welfare programs obtain finance through taxation so that those living in poverty can be assisted greatly. For most of American history, Americans can now receive numerous benefits from the federal government something that was not initially practiced in USA. A person could live entire life without obtaining anything from the government. This act of instilling the use of welfare programs is a huge change in the United States of America. Gone are the days when people could not enjoy all the benefits from the government currently, people enjoy all the benefits. About 49% of the USA population, benefit from the government (Abramovitz, 2017). However, the US encourages work and discourages permanent dependency on the government.

Although these programs are meant for the poor, some people may take advantage and benefit themselves from the embraced welfare dependency programs. There should be set policies that ensure that only those who are genuinely poor benefit from these policies. There are several benefits that these welfare programs bring to the involved persons. Americans can acquire so many essential commodities and service through these programs. Some of the advantages of the welfare programs include:

Benefits of Welfare Dependency in the USA

The first advantage is that they obtained policies or program that lessen the stigma that makes it easy to apply various policies and this makes it easier for people to understand how the federal government has intervened in their lives.

Secondly, all citizens are beneficiaries of some of the embraced policies. We tend to say that these programs are meant for the poor or the low-income people in the USA but the truth is that most citizens benefit a lot form the social policy. Most people across the spectrum make good use of the provided social policies. The other point is that the higher-income people get most of the benefits in social policies, unlike the low-income people. This makes a larger population benefit from these welfare programs.

Welfare programs have helped in reducing crime USA. We all know that one can do all that it takes to obtain the essential needs. If they need a certain commodity like food and it not available, the next alternative would be a crime. In the United States of America, there are various well-designed programs that ensure that all citizens acquire the most essential needs first thus curbing crime in this state.

Limitations of welfare programs to only the documented workers. Not all people benefit from welfare dependency programs (Brown, 2016). In USA, those workers that do not have documents do not qualify to attain anything from any of the set programs. The federal government in the USA does not provide any assistance or benefit to those without work. This is unlike what happens in other states. All naturalized citizens receive welfare benefits from all the applied programs.

Welfare programs provide help where it is needed most. People go through a lot in this life. Americans always obtain help when they are stranded or when they desperately require help. This could be after the death of a loved one, a family member, after losing a job or even when one is sick and medication is costly. This benefit is provided by programs such as Medicaid or Medicare assistance or other programs that provide an emergency fund to the registered citizens or workers (Olsen, 2015).

Children are the most beneficiaries of these programs in the United State of America. As per statistics, most people who benefit from the welfare programs are the children (Brown, 2016). A small percentage of children come from families that experience issues such as food insecurity. A program like school-lunch has made these children benefit a lot since at the end of the day they will have something to put in their stomachs. Though the program does not eliminate this insecurity, it curbs such experiences in such conditions.

Benefits are always limited. In the USA, there is a set amount that defines the federal poverty line or level. This amount makes it easy to allocate the provided funds to the households. The amount that each household obtains is limited. They cannot receive more than the set limits. Moreover, in the USA the amount received is determined by other social factors such as age. This limit discourages most citizens who end up on depending on these welfares temporarily. This encourages them to work more to sustain their needs fully since one cannot permanently depend on welfare programs.

Welfare programs are of great impact to the USA citizens. However, there are a few limitations that result from these programs. These programs can be easily abused or misused. The involved stakeholders need to review both the advantages and disadvantages of these welfare dependency programs. Here are some of the disadvantages that can be experienced after embracing these programs.

Limitations of Welfare Dependency Programs in the USA

Welfare dependency program can create a system of abuse. The aim of these welfare dependency programs in the United States of America is to provide the essential needs to the needy or low-income people. However, there are people who try to take advantage of these programs. Some people decide not to work to cater to their need since they are aware that we have set programs that can provide them the all the necessities. This kind of abuse risks the removal of these programs which is unfair to those people with genuine needs.

From its title, welfare dependency programs can develop a pattern or a habit of dependence. The set welfare programs ensure that all the low-income people in the USA get their basic needs such as food and housing which makes most of them to feel contents and not to think of making themselves better (Roulstone, 2015). This tendency of dependency call for limitation in most of these welfare programs in the United States of America. Individuals feel that they do not need to strain since they receive some benefits at the end of each month.

Most of the set programs do not examine the major cause of poverty among low-income people. In life change is inevitable. We can observe that there so many changes in the market where we have some businesses rising as others are brought down by various factors. People who benefit from these programs need to be equipped with knowledge and skills so that they can provide for themselves. Not all programs work towards attaining this. These programs ought to consider the fact that these needy people need to better themselves not just depending on these programs while unskilled. Without instilling the unskilled with the necessary skills, the issue of poverty is not addressed at all.

In the United States of America, the set variable makes it difficult for low-income people to access these programs. This could be curbed by setting variables that can be easily attained. This cat makes it difficult for the needy to obtain some of the necessities of the variables are high thus creating an experience of suffering among this group. These variables could be met in other geographic states but due to the restriction on who should access the services; it will not be easy to buy this idea.

Welfare programs result in the formation of cliques in the entire American society. The presence of these programs brings up conflict on who should benefit from the set programs. There are numerous questions that most people will ask concerning who should benefit from these programs. Like for instance, does drinking alcohol make one be limited to gaining the benefits? How long should one receive Medicare benefits? The formation of such groups with the result of the separation of the entire society which may affect the growth USA at large.

Some of these welfare programs do not support the modern household In US the size of a household is one of the factors that determine whether people qualify in any of the welfare benefits. In a family where we have around six members and only one parent is working, this would disqualify them from attaining any welfare benefits. In an American family where the two parents are working the entire family is likely to enjoy many welfare benefits. The assize of the household is critical.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the USA government needs to review both the pros and cons of these welfare dependency programs. From the presented disadvantages and advantages it is clear that these welfare programs are vital and useful to all those in need. By reviewing both pros and cons, the government will be in a position to control these policies and programs from any form of torture or abuse but those citizens that are not truly needy. Moreover, there will be always an argument on who should benefit from these programs and the United State's federal government will be able to examine the major factors that make each citizen attain most of these benefits. It is always good for a common ground to be sought in such issues.

References

Abramovitz, M. (2017). Regulating the lives of women: Social welfare policy from colonial times to the present. Routledge.

Brown, J. A. (2016). The new "Southern Strategy:" Immigration, race, and "welfare dependency" in contemporary US Republican political discourse. Geopolitics, History, and International Relations, 8(2), 22-41. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=425721

Olsen, F. E. (2015). The myth of state intervention in the family. In Justice, Politics, and the Family (pp. 163-178). Routledge.

Roulstone, A. (2015). Personal Independence Payments, welfare reform, and the shrinking disability category. Disability & Society, 30(5), 673-688. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687599.2015.1021759