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Welfare Reform Essay, Research Paper

WELFARE REFORM

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, there was a crisis among American families. The crash of the Stock Market in 1929 led into the era, which would be remembered as the Great Depression. The stock market crash left many American people with nothing. With no money, no homes, and no jobs, many American families became poor and homeless. With the presidential election in 1932, of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the introduction of the ?New Deal,? the American people were acquainted with many new economic and social welfare programs. Up until this time, welfare was not a big issue, but with so many poor people it was important to find a way to help the economy. The welfare programs did help many people in the height of the depression, but the question today is, the welfare benefit levels too charitable? The answer is yes. Welfare benefit levels are so generous, that they entice people into becoming dependent upon the system.

Up until the Great Depression, welfare was not really an issue. For the most part every one dealt with their problems on their own. When the stock market crashed in 1929, it left many people to fend for themselves. Many families in America got wrapped up in the stock market, after all the returns were very plentiful. Several people had their life savings in the stock market, and others went to loan sharks and took out loans for large sums of money, to try and earn back money that

they had already lost. When the stock market crashed, it left all of the people with investments in stock, as well as banks, with nothing. Many people committed suicide, or went crazy. Some of the richest people became poor. But to make matters worse, many people were fired or laid off their jobs. This was happening left and right; their employer had either lost too much money in the crash of the stock market. Or when the stock market crashed and took everyone?s money, no one could afford the goods or services that they were offering and they were not making enough money to pay their employees. So they were left with no choice, with little to no cash flowing in they could not afford to keep many people on their pay roll.

The Great Depression, which began in 1929, had a tremendous impact on nearly all aspects of American life. Its effects on the American political perspective was considerable indeed. The landmark election of 1932 brought Franklin D. Roosevelt to the presidency. Also, that election marked an essential shift in the public?s attitude toward the proper place of government in the nation?s social, and economic life (Carlson-Thies 13).

?Franklin Roosevelt and the democrats engineered their victory in 1932 with a new electoral base. It was built largely of southerners, small farmers, organized labor, and big-city political organizations. Roosevelt?s revolutionary economic and social welfare programs, which formed the heart of the New Deal of the 1930s, further strengthened that coalition; and it soon brought increasing support from African Americans and other minorities to the Democrats? (Carlson-Thies 13).

With the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt came many strong attributions towards the

economic status and the very well being of the American people. Roosevelt?s biggest push was his ?New Deal,? which was a program that he and his fellow Democrats had comprised.

The New Deal was supposed to help the American people that were jobless, and living on the streets, by giving them a job and bringing them in off the streets. It was a program devised to help get people on their feet. It was a series of programs that formed a very large program that is known as welfare. Welfare consists of many programs, there are programs that are intended to help the elderly, and there are programs that focus most of their attention on children. There are also programs intended to provide housing for needy families.

There were several federal rules and regulations that one must meet in order to receive benefits from welfare. Once a person qualified to receive benefits, then a certain amount of money was given to them. The amount of money that a person received was based upon how many children they had, and the standard of living in the area in which they lived (Blank 112).

Money was not necessarily just handed out, but at the same time it was not very hard to receive welfare benefits. The major problem with welfare was deciding who should and should not receive benefits. ?It has been said that approximately only half of all of the people that actually needed help, ever received any? (Blank 77). The government was providing money to people who did not actually need it, and turning down people who did need it. What they were faced with now was coming up with a way to determine who was and was not a worthy candidate for receiving welfare benefits.

Mostly the people that received benefits from the welfare system, were homeless people. Homeless people that had children would receive even more money, and possible even implemented with a home to live in. The major problem with this is that the government was giving these things out, they were not making people pay or work for what they are being given. Therefore, these people were becoming dependent on welfare. They were being supplied with a home and money, what else do they need? The welfare program set out to be a very positive thing, but with so many people taking advantage of the government, and not making any efforts to get jobs and or get off of welfare, they were costing the taxpayers of America a great deal of money. Along with costing the taxpayers money it costs the government lots of money too, and for these reasons the welfare system of the United States definitely need improvement.

Like anything else, there are going to be good things and bad things about the welfare system. There are many

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