Our Nation Research Paper

2628 Words11 Pages
Priority of Our Nation: The Well Being of the Children Across America, rumbling in the distance, the faint sounds of a crisis can be heard. Our nations children and their families are in trouble; worsening every day. Millions of American children are becoming prisoner to the grim shadows of prosperity, living in the twilight of poverty, growing up in broken homes, going to bed with empty stomachs, arising to seemingly hopeless futures. The United States, a land of opulence, has the reputation of being ‘the land of opportunity’; yet, flawed by its unsupportive programs and failing policies has led to the dubious distinction of inequality, thus now known worldwide as the nation with the highest poverty rate. These children are our future,…show more content…
AFDC was designed to provide a safety net of income supports for single mothers and their children which guaranteed economic security for poverty stricken children who were concentrated in single parent families (Duncan, 277). Later, in August of 1996, a new welfare reform effort commissioned by Congress promised to ‘end welfare as we know it’. Congress believed that it would ‘end the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work and marriage’ (Hays, 4). In 1996, the historic 61 year old social contract between the federal government and poor children came to an end. As a result, Congress completely changed the philosophy of welfare policies and sustainably altered the structure of income supports. As a matter of fact, President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) which significantly restricted poor families’ rights to income and social services, emphasized the ‘work first’ approach, and placed little attention on education and job training (Reese, 3).PRWORA ceased any entitlements of welfare and replaced AFDC with a more selective program: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), which included the federal work requirements and time limits up to 5 years on the receipt of cash assistance (Reese,…show more content…
The stingy, exclusive, and stigmatizing character of welfare in the United States is the product of successive and increasingly powerful waves of welfare cutbacks. In effort to overhaul government programs, many activists and politicians need to promote a second “New Deal”. Specifically to address the needs of poor single mothers who struggle to find work, make ends meet and take care of their children so they are not so isolated (Reese, 204). The goals of the ‘New Deal’ would be to increase access to jobs, education and training; to help workers make ends meet and balance their obligations to work and family (Reese,
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