The Social Policy Welfare Programs

The book “The Other America”, written by Michael Harrington, describes poverty in America in the 1950s and 1960s, when America became one of the most affluent and advanced nations in the world. The book was written in 1962, and Harrington states that there were about 50,000,000 (about 25% of the total population) poor in America at that time. The author did extensive research with respect to the family income levels to derive the poverty numbers, and used his own observations and experiences to write this book. This book addresses the reasons for poverty, the nature of poverty, the culture of poverty, the blindness of Middle Class America with respect to poverty, and the responsibility of all Americans in addressing the issue of poverty in America.

Poverty is a hardship that has existed in every milestone of American history. War impacted the economy of the country after the Civil War. The twentieth century would see wars, natural disasters, and economical depressions that contributed to the developing culture of poverty. Poverty in any time period is a shattering experience. While being poor during the Reconstruction, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights movement were each devastating, the nature of poverty would evolve as the culture of each decade evolved. The character of poverty changed most dramatically over the years through Americans’ perception of standards of living and the government’s response to poverty.

Changes within the welfare system as a result of policy shifts and by new thinking, more generally in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), have had many methods, but the one that seemed most important, was that welfare recipients were required to do much more to justify their income support payments than before. The foundation of this new idea is that income support programs should allow individuals to maximise their participation in work. Due to the general shift in welfare administration, the number of activity test requirements an individual in Australia must meet in order to receive unemployment benefits, has expanded significantly since the early 1990s. This complex, overly bureaucratic process means that disadvantaged individuals cannot access the income support payments they require.

The United States defines poverty for a family of four as being less than $16,036 per year, or $4,009 per person (Leone 12). People find themselves under this line for an innumerable amount of reasons. Some of these causes are under one's control and others are greater factors beyond an individual's power. Each family or individual person has unique and separate reasons for living in a state poverty. There is no way to try and define them all. Focusing in, three main topics arise that encompass the most predominant reasons for a person to fall into poverty. Education, family life and influence, along with the business cycle may work individually or together to cause poverty. These three leading

Poverty is not only an individual problem, but a societal problem. Harrell R. Rodgers wrote an article, “Why are People Poor in America?” Rodgers gives two categories of theories that are used when cultural /behavioral or structural/economic. Behavior/culture theorists look at the behavior, culture and values of the poor as the reason for poverty. While structural /ecIn western culture statistics are an excessively used tool in describing social issues. Numbers help explain a situation, but in excesses, can dehumanize a population. A serious social issue that suffers from desensitization is poverty. Poverty, as it is defined by Webster, is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of supporting; the condition of being poor. The condition of poverty plagues many American families. According to the Census bureau, 15.1 percent of the United States population falls below the poverty threshold. 15.1 percent does not draw the same effect as the actual 46.6 million individuals living in those circumstances. In the United States, poverty has become a growing problem. There are 15 million more people living in poverty today than in the year 2000 (U.S. Bureau of the Census 2013). The poverty threshold, developed by Molly Orshansky, is a tool used to help indicate how many Americans are in poverty. According to the census, 46.6 million of America’s total population makes less than the poverty threshold for a family of four. The condition of being

The detentions of American poverty has drastically changed from 1968-200. According to Daniel A Sandoval and other authors the main ages that are affected by poverty are the late 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. Due to lack of work, paying off school bills, and providing for families. By the 90’s poverty rates decreased and by 2004 its boomed up again in parts of the US, Mexico, and Africa. over the years, jobs security had leaked and income decreased.

Everyone has their own opinion about the welfare system in the United States. Some feel it is well-designed and other find it to be valueless. Some say it is an excuse for “the lazy” to not have to contribute to society, and use it as a source of income. Some even say the program isn’t utilized in the manner in which it was meant when established. Regardless of opinions, the welfare system was established to help those in a time of need. The United States, “The land of opportunity”, is simply trying to help give those less fortunate the opportunity to succeed. In the following paragraphs we will discuss the history of the welfare system; why it was created; and how the conflict theory impacts it.

The welfare system is run by the government that runs different programs that was originally intended to help the unemployed or underemployed (Welfare Info, n.d.). It went from just helping those two groups and branched significantly into helping low income families, disabled, and single parent families be able to live the best life possible. Some of the programs include "Medicaid, Food Stamps, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Head Start, Work Study, and Medicare" (Welfare Info, n.d.). Another very commonly known one is Social Security which is mainly for seniors when they retire.

Social welfare policy that is seen throughout America today has roots that are hundreds of years old. The modern policy in America has been based on five fundamental traditions that were brought from Britain when they colonized North America. Those five traditions are Calvinism, Localism, controlling the mobility of the workforce, reliance on poor houses and work houses, and less eligibility. These traditions will be defined and then connected to the influence they have had on the modern American social policy.

Poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support: condition of being poor (Poverty, n.d.). There are numerous reasons that contribute to the overwhelming poverty rates in America, some of which cause sever hunger and death. The economy, cultural beliefs, minimum wage, and lack of jobs are a just a few reasons more than 45 million people are in poverty. The American government has set the limits to what is considered to be poverty under a set guideline of 48 possible thresholds. The thresholds vary according to the size of the family and the ages of the family members. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, poverty

The U.S. reform effort suggests that the social welfare policy is most efficient at reducing poverty. “Federally funded and governed US welfare began in the 1930’s during the Great Depression.” [1] “A main goal of these reforms is to reduce the number of individuals or families’ dependent on government assistance and to assist the recipients in their efforts to become self-sufficient.” [2] Welfare was intended as a way to help people through a rough spot and are in greater need. It is for families living in poverty who need help to create financial stability. “The U.S. welfare state arguably emphasizes incentives to keep people employed, at whatever job and wage level, more than any other country.” (Drogus and Orvis 588) Every state has their

What would happen if the government made changes to the welfare system? There are approximately 110,489,000 of Americans on welfare. Many people benefit from what the system has to offer: food stamps, housing, health insurance, day care, and unemployment. Taxpayers often argue that the individuals who benefit from the system, abuse the system; however, this is not entirely true. Many of the people who receive benefits really and truly need the help. Even though some people believe welfare should be reformed, welfare should not be reformed because 40% of single mothers are poor, some elderly people do not have a support system, and college students can not afford to take extra loans.

Social welfare programs are when society organizes efforts to meet some human needs. In the United States social welfare philosophies have changed throughout the years, and support for social welfare has gone both ways.

This review is formulated with scholarly sources and references based off of poverty in America. This disclosure is approached with a value free sociological approach, and it will give insight on the social causes of poverty and the effects it has on America. Poverty is a very controversial topic. Many will assume that people living in poverty are lazy, made bad life decisions, or that they are solely the reason for their predicament however, people living in poverty would argue that their are deeper issues for it. Poverty will be deeply explained and researched from both perspectives

When it comes to poverty, there is the magnitude of definitions explaining the term. The definition of poverty has important implications from point of view of policy making, politics and academic debates. Each view has its own value judgments and explanations. Over the times, new definitions have surfaced the debates and yet, there is not a single universally acceptable definition of poverty. Definitions usually set the perimeters of the terminology and often subject to limitations and criticism. According to the definition of the World Bank, the term lack refers to the scarcity of economic resources while the term inability refers to the failure of competence to take part in a community (Bellu & Liberati, 2005). It is now widely