Welfare is something that everyone has something to say about. The welfare system has been around since 1925 and the administration in Tennessee was implemented in 1933. Over the years there have been several changes and updates to the system in Tennessee. In 1996 the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program was replaced with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in order to help the health and safety of the children in the program. Even though the creation of the welfare program seems to be a good idea, but now there are so many people that take advantage of something designed to take care of children.
One of the problems that the welfare program faces is welfare fraud. There are people that receive it that do not need it or deserve it, there are illegals that receive it without paying into the system and even people that need it that can't receive it. When people abuse the system it makes it that much harder for people that are really in need of assistance it receive assistance. There are many families struggling to make ends meet by having a low paying job and need help from the government. The miss use of the system by other people make it almost impossible to be able to get approved for government assistance.
A way to fix this problem can be stricter rules on the eligibility of the person applying for assistance. Obviously the rules are not being enforced or the people that are being accepted know ways around the rules. If there where more restrictions and better enforced rules the people that really need the assistance for help can receive it.
Another problem faced with the program there is no force to make people work. The less someone works, the more money they can get. Most the time you can make more money doing no work then actually working. This gives more opportunity for people to take advantage of "free" money and not make a positive contribution to the economy.
One solution to encourage people on welfare to work is an opportunity to better themselves. Most people on welfare are not well educated. When going out to find a job their lack of education can hinder them getting the job. A solution to this is give the people on welfare a free way to earn an education or training in a trade. Having people more educated can make them more valuable in society and become a more productive citizen encouraging them to work instead of taking advantage of the system.
The welfare system also encourages people to have children out of wedlock. A majority of women on welfare had their first child as a teenager. Most of these women know if they have a child they will get welfare, no questions asked. There is nothing being to try to stop the pregnancy's from happening, just promoting it by allowing them to continue to have children and then receiving money for them. There are even women that continue to have children because they know they will receive more money for each child.
Having harder restrictions on the amount of money given per child could help this. Also setting a limit of children a person has could also help. Having a top amount of how much a person could receive regardless of how many children could reduce the abuse of the program tremendously.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Welfare was intended to help struggling families while growing the economy. Nevertheless, fraud and illegal activity is taking advantage of our goodwill. Let us not lose sight of the good these programs do in our anger and desire to improve the operation of the welfare programs. In as much as our balancing the emotional impact of immoral behaviors, let us also think about the people who are legitimately and fairly receiving welfare benefits. We should also keep in mind that even if we to completely eliminate welfare fraud, without Federal spending reforms in other areas, we must still borrow every dollar we spend on welfare programs. The most common instances of welfare fraud that I read about was the instance where applications were falsified regarding the number of income earning individuals living in the homes along with asset disclosures as the 2011 case with Lyudmila Shimonova and David Silverstein from the State of Washington. Federal prosecutors alleged that the couple fraudently received more than $135,000 in Federal and State assistance over the course of a decade in this manner.
ReplyDelete"Obviously the rules are not being enforced or the people that are being accepted know ways around the rules."
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to see some empirical evidence on this front. While obviously with any organization, private, public, for-profit or non-profit, there will be "waste, fraud and abuse".
As for restricting increased benefits for more kids, you could do that, but it would more likely hurt the kids than hurt the parents.
A better solution is to have better sex-ed training and programs that reduce the instances of teen pregnancies. Obviously our current system is inadequate, especially in urban areas, and so a stronger push and focus by community leaders may be needed.
It would add considerable weight to your argument if you were able to provide us with valid references for the following claims:
ReplyDelete"Another problem faced with the program there is no force to make people work"
Please see 'work requirements' section at (http://www.nccp.org/profiles/TN_profile_36.html)
Also:
(http://www.ehow.com/info_8585907_tennessee-welfare-qualifications.html)
"The welfare system also encourages people to have children out of wedlock."
Please see:
(http://www.shelbycountytn.gov/index.aspx?nid=2083)
And:
(http://health.state.tn.us/Downloads/Family_Planning.pdf)
Various welfare programs differ from state to state, but the links provided above for programs/resources in TN directly advocate for both gainful employment and family planning.
I feel it may be of greater benefit to your readers to research more thoroughly your chosen topic of discussion before providing blanket generalizations over any given program or group of people.
I am a single mother to a child born out of wedlock, I hold a degree and attend school full time in order to earn a second degree, I live below the poverty line, I work 2 jobs, and I receive government benefits.
I am not fraudulently receiving benefits.
Having said this, is "Having harder restrictions on the amount of money given per child" or "setting a limit of children a person has" to rightful and needy recipients of government assistance truly a fair and reasonable solution to reduce fraud?
I am allotted $60 to feed two people per week. Should I receive even less than that, because someone else is receiving benefits they don't deserve?
It is an easy task to form broad-ranging judgments on a population of people receiving benefits,or on a program itself, but it is a much, much more difficult task to accurately and appropriately ensure who is and is not legitimately receiving assistance.
I stand with Carolyn in saying we should not forget about all the good such programs provide, and how there are those out there legitimately and rightly receiving benefits that feel both humbled and grateful to have such a program to lean on in times of considerable need and financial crisis.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely like to see some research to support your claims.
ReplyDelete"There is nothing being to try to stop the pregnancy's from happening, just promoting it by allowing them to continue to have children and then receiving money for them."
What would you propose the government do about this? It would be impending on their freedoms to limit the amount of children that someone can have. This isn't China.
I do agree that they need to sharpen their enforcement of unemployment benefits though.