The Welfare System Must Remain

Public Welfare is an important support system of the United States

government. Welfare has its benefits, but the system has pitfalls. Instead of

abolishing welfare as critics of the system suggest, reforms can be made to

correct the problems while government, either on the state or federal level, can

continue to assist the impoverished.

The term welfare is used to describe a variety of programs that provide

income support and create a safety net for poor individuals and families. Such

benefits include Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, food stamps, housing

allowances, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Aid To Families With

Dependent Children (AFDC) enables states to provide cash payments to

children that are deprived of the care or support of a parent. In terms of welfare

reform, this is the program most often discussed.

The media has created many myths regarding welfare and the reasons

the system should be done away with.

American Civil Liberties Union

Anti-ACLU-2

Howard Simon, ACLU of Florida Executive Director, ...

Stating that the majority of new welfare

recipients are poor, single mothers, claims have been made that poor women

have more children because of the incentives of welfare benefits. It has been

proven that is no correlation between women's choice to have children and

welfare benefit levels. Furthermore, for each additional child, a mother can

expect an additional $90 of AFDC benefits, far too low to serve as any type of

incentive. In addition, those states that provide higher benefits do not

necessarily show higher birth rates among their welfare recipients. Families

receiving AFDC benefits have 1.9 children, just about the same as the national

average. (ACLU 1)

Another myth created by the media concerns the amount of money spent

and the results. It has been said that after spending billions of dollars since the

mid-1960's on anti-poverty programs, there have been little or no results.