Welfare System In The United States

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|Too Poor to Help Themselves | |Abuse of the Welfare System | |Christian Danielson | Christian Danielson English Comp II February 14, 2013 Too Poor to Help Themselves In the rest of the world, America has been known as the land of opportunity, a country that is considered the melting pot of the world and a haven for war refugees. The US became a world power for many reasons. Some could include being a democratic government of checks and balances, a strong military power, and high ethical standards of justice. But in 2011, the Census Bureau estimated that 49.7 million Americans or 16 percent of the country are considered poor.(Government…show more content…
It was a system imported from Great Britain to help those who were physically unable to work. It has continually changed and been reformed to the point where it is today. But the way the system works and the way some people are, welfare is abused. As early as the civil war, individuals began exploiting it. Today abuse consists of men and women not applying for jobs, having more children just to obtain more aid, and staying unmarried to qualify for greater benefits. It is a system that has helped many people become government dependent and indifferent to work. According to the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, there has been “…$2.9 billion in questioned costs; with $23.3 million in recoveries and $2.8 million in fines and a further $25.5 million in settlements, judgment, and restitution.”(SSAO) The people who are taking advantage of the welfare system are those who decide to lie or cheat to not receive an honest income and take funds from law-abiding citizens who are hard workings and have families to support. This does not seem just especially when statistics from The Department of Health and Human Services show that there are nine U.S. states where welfare pays more than the average salary of a U.S. teacher. There are forty states where welfare pays more than $8 per hour which in some states is more than the minimum wage. There are seven states where welfare pays more than $12 per hour.(CATO…show more content…
A single mother’s federal benefits are different from those who do have a husband and are provided for. According to James Pethokoukis, the Money and Politics columnist blogger for the American Enterprise Institute, it is better to make $29,000 per year rather than $69,000 in a woman’s single parent situation. A single mother with the lower income is qualified for a larger hand-out than someone who makes approximately $35,000 due to financial support of the government. Analyzed and charted, it is named the “welfare cliff,” a proportionate scale of how single mothers acquire supplementary funds. The recommended amount of support from welfare she receives is determined by how much she makes and if she is unwed. But because of this fact, she is more likely to have less expenses and more money in her pocket to spend. She will have fewer expenses than a married woman with a job paying $70,000, and only a slightly lower living standard. (Pethokoukis) This has become a controversy for the struggling middle class. Not all of those eligible for federal or state support exploit this system, but many do. The working man pays more and more to feed those who are unwilling to help themselves. “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.” This Chinese proverb expresses how our government should approach those who misuse the system. But under Bill
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