Welfare Reform

Term Paper Title	Welfare Reform
# of Words	1445
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	5.78

Welfare Reform

From a historical overview, until the Social Security act of 1935, it was local governments, private charities, family and friends who took care of the poor.  The start of aid to Families with Dependent Children, Social Security and other entitlement programs was the first time the federal government got into the business of running a program to finance the needy.  Welfare, today in this country is of enormous debate.  It is of great importance for citizens of this country to know how welfare was brought about and how it is financed to do the job.  Starting in the colonial period, there was a commitment at the local level to provide assistance to those who were really in need.  The population in need well reflect the populations that are in need in the 19th century through the 20th century.  Families left stranded by death, or illness, aged persons, persons who suffered various kinds of disabilities were supported by local government, the township and the country which provided out property taxes, the funds for assistance (Hopjenspringer 36).  The first major change in welfare reform comes early in the nineteenth century.

As for children, with full orphans, these children were "placed out" as the saying went.  If they were infants or very young, there would be a
stipend for the host family.  However, if they were older, that is six, seven, eight and could do something around the house, then it was not usually a subsidized  operation. There is little evidence that the existence of cash assistance in low-income women has been anything but very minor factor behind the substantial increases in out-of -wedlock births is not primarily due to the structure of existing welfare programs (Blank 12). There is very little evidence for the claim that welfare payments are driving the increase in teen pregnancy.  A wide variety of studies have related benefit payments within the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which is most typically referred to as welfare to fertility issues.  As many have noted, the monthly support levels available from AFDC and food stamps have fallen steadily since the late 1960's woman's ability to find jobs and support themselves in the labor market has increased, increasing their independence.  This has made marriage seem less attractive and single parenthood seem economically viable(Gordon 81).

On the other hand, a mans ability to support a family, particular among men with little to no formal skills, has declined.  Does welfare benefits the main reason for the boom in out-of-wedlock births?  Almost 80
scholars answered that question no (Blank 21). The scholars said that most social science research suggest welfare has little or no effect on a woman's decision to have a child out of marriage.  Cutting public assistance to never married mothers will only increase poverty and all of its related problems among mothers and their children (Hazalitt 4)  Real welfare reform requires recognition that there is respect for the individual's labor.  The federal government spends approximately two billion dollars per year on child support enforcement but purposefully and consciously excludes fathers from all parent-child programs.  Under AFDC rules, the low-income fathers who wishes to be a physical and emotional asset to his children also becomes a financial liability by disqualifying them from most assistance.  Eligibility for all federal programs should require establishment of paternity, beginning with eligibility for the Woman Infants and Children program (WIC program)(LaPatra 99).  That program itself must be revised to develop and encourage the roles of fathers.  Paternity establishment forms in hospital programs should encourage the parties to voluntarily establish custody of

visitation as well as financial support.  The National Black Woman's Health project (NBWHP) believes that in order to move low-income people out of poverty, a complete overhaul of the welfare system is necessary.
The main objective of welfare should be to facilitate the movement o...

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