Introduction
Poverty in the United States is difficult to determine . Usually considered a poor family of three , annual revenue $ 8,000 or less. Many poor have an income far less than this "minimum " amount. Difficult to live poor . They do not earn anything , or do not earn enough to have enough for food and other needs . Many live in dilapidated houses or truscheby , and there are all the homeless living in shelters . They can not afford any medical care or higher education for children.
Most Americans are concerned about the existence of poverty in their country . In the end , the United States is known for its wealth , abundance of food and the opportunity for each to create yourself a good life. Goal is to maintain the economic system of free enterprise in which everyone who wants to work can find a job that could bring enough income to comfortable life . However, there is always a certain amount of people seeking , but were not able to find something to do according to his ability . The number of unemployed in the country varies depending on the overall economic situation. According to official statistics , in recent years , unemployment was between seven and eight percent.
Poor and unemployed would have been much harder if they did not receive assistance from the federal and state governments . The social security system in the U.S. is so wide that in the early and mid- 1960s, almost half of all spending federal money accounted for payments to " social needs ", that is to help people . This is two times more than in the 60s , when providing social programs consumed only about 25 percent of the federal budget. In addition to federal government programs of all fifty states conduct their own outreach programs . Program of assistance to the poor include:
Social Security benefits - monthly amount paid by the State to those whose income does not provide basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing .
Medicaid - the provision of free medical care and hospitalization.
Grocery Coupons - special booklet of coupons that are valid for the purchase of products in any store .
In addition to this there is a program providing public housing to the poor - and not just the poor - families in houses built at the expense of budget funds. Federal, state and municipal authorities ensure that the apartments in these houses battered families with low incomes. Government organizations provide maintenance of buildings , paying staff, repairs and heating .
In the absence of municipal houses of the poor who do not have shelter, sometimes accommodated in private apartments or hotels at state expense. However, there are those who are comfortable with social aid. Such people are not willing to search for job or continue their education. This essay is aimed on revealing pros and cons of modern American welfare system, as well as presenting suggestions o how to improve the system.
Pros and cons of the system
As everything created by human beings, the American welfare system is not perfect as well. To the advantages of the system, one may include:
- Material help to those who badly need money;
- Food stamps for poor;
- Medical care;
- In some cases the welfare system helps to keep one’s living standard;
Disadvantages:
- The welfare system is rather costly for tax payers;
- Some people do not strive to seek for job;
- There has been some fraud cases in the history of the American welfare system, when aid seekers presented false information;
- Some researchers state that there is race discrimination in the welfare system.
Recommendations to improvement
There are several suggestions to improve the welfare system. It has been already mentioned above that some people feel the governmental support and refuse to look for job or continue their education. However, there are some recommendations that will help to improve the system and decrease the amount of poor citizens in the country. First, the government should establish a law that limits time how long a person is allowed to receive material or medical aid. If a person does not find any job or get education, he or she will not receive any aid any longer. Second, there should be stricter regulations to applicants. Besides, social workers should conduct a more thorough background check of a person to exclude a fraud. Another suggestion is to drug test aid seekers. In some cases those who address for material aid are drug addicted.
The point is that most of the recommendations mentioned above are difficult to implement. However, there is one more suggestion. In my opinion, social workers should demand from those who receive material aid, a report on the job seeking process. If a person has no education, he or she should be sent for training or obtaining education. If a person is incapable to work, he or she should be trained to help oneself. The point is that in such a way, government will not spend much money on maintaining such people, for example, providing them with medical workers or nurses. However, there is a question: where trained people should work? The point is that most of them get aid because they have lost their job or could not find any after graduation. Hence, the government should create new workplaces and try to provide jobseekers who receive material aid with it.
Such recommendations will provide the welfare system with some new advantages. First, the amount of jobless or homeless people will decrease. This will positively influence the country’s budget. The amount of tax payers will increase (because most of the citizens of the United States of America will be employed) and the amount of aid seekers will decrease. Hence, the government will have enough money to decrease the country debt. Besides, people will get stable life. in future, the amount of aid seekers will only decrease which will improve the life quality of the Americans.
Conclusion
American welfare system, obviously, has many benefits. First, it helps people get their lives back on track. Besides, it helps those who are unable to work any longer survive. However, many people ask questions, such as why some get material aid while others go to work every day or what a person should do with one’s retirement? Nowadays, it is hard to find answers on these questions. However, the essay has presented several suggestions, which would help to solve the questions like these. The American welfare system is not perfect, however, there are still several ways to make it close to perfect.
Resources:
Chibnall S., Dutch N., Jones-Harden B. Children of color in the child welfare system 2003 Department of health and human services
Social policy and the American welfare state Web. 26 Dec 2013
Tanner M. The American welfare state. Web. 26 Dec 2013
Taxing hard-up Americans at 95% The Economists. Web. 26 Dec 2013
Thompson L. H. The advantages and disadvantages of different social welfare strategies Web. 26 Dec 2013
Unequal opportunity within the child welfare system Web. 26 Dec 2013
