Welfare Shouls not Be Abolished

Con claims that the option of welfare allows people to choose not to work for less than what they would get on welfare which decreases production, but even those who work for less than what the government offers in welfare qualify for welfare assistance. Why? Because freedom to contribute to production means nothing if one cannot excercise it. A minimun condition for contributing to production is that people must have their basic needs met. So to illustrate, a homeless person's job choices will be severly limited by his lack of address for correspondence or place to change and shower. Giving a person his basic human rights allow him to participate more productively in society. As in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, basic needs are typically understood as "food, clothing, housing, and medical care." All people have a right to such goods, and they should be provided if they do not already possess them. Therfore government is responsible for organizing the redistribution of the goods necessary to satisfy all society members' basic needs or of the money to purchase these goods—hence, the social welfare system. The satisfaction of basic needs is of greater moral importance than an individual's right to spend earnings as he or she freely chooses. This is not merely a clashing of societal rights but a matter of life and death, malnutrition and nourishment, disease and health, ignorance and education. The study, Making Ends Meet: How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low-Wage Work, examines another significant barrier: the costs associated with going to work. Many women report difficulties in managing the hidden costs of working, including increased expenses for child care, medical care, transportation, housing and suitable clothing. Non-economic costs such as accommodating parenting responsibilities and other family management issues were mentioned. The study noted that women who were able to work steadily benefited from a combination of "special circumstances," such as co-residence with relatives, free childcare by a friend or relative, receipt of regular and substantial child support, and access to transportation. (Edin & Lein) Thus, those who don't have such special help from relatives and friends must be aided by the welfare system. This is not a case of women just choosing not to work willy-nilly, but mothers with real difficulties and no other options. In Personal and Family Challenges to the Successful Transition from Welfare to Work, 90% of welfare recipients analyzed from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth experience barriers that limited their employment. Barriers noted in the report, in rank order, were: low basic skills, substance abuse, a health limitation, depression, and a child with chronic medical condition or disability. The most prevalent logistical barriers to successful employment, noted within this study as well as within the national Family Support Act are: child care, and transportation. (ibid) The Institute for Research on Poverty did a seven-study review to outline and understand factors that prevent welfare recipients from working steadily and earning a living wage. Based on the review, nine sets of potential barriers to employment and self-sufficiency were identified: low schooling, little work experience, lack of the job skills and credentials employers value, lack of "work readiness," worries about employer discrimination, mental health problems, alcohol and drug dependence, physical health problems and family stresses, and experiences of domestic violence. (Kalil) I agree that some of the above may be the result of bad choices, but not all, and we can't punish genuine cases of unavoidable need in order to punish those who made silly choice. Also, there are social forces that push people into making bad decisions. Because of how one was raised and limited resources, education etc, one can't be blames for making certain mistakes. Deep depression can naturally cause peeople to become drug dependant. There are genuine sorrows in life that lead to depression. What kind of unforgiving, loveless, me-first-screw-everyone-else societies are we building when we say "you make your bed, lie in it!" to these people? Do we not at times need a little help to? To remove welfare is to take the humanity out of society. Data from the Urban Institute in Washington D.C.profiling the U.S. welfare population shows that welfare recipients are mostly single mothers in their 20s-30s with one or two children; 90% of welfare recipients are single mothers, 10% married, 36% divorced/widowed/separated, 54% never married. What is a single mother to do with her two children when the only jobs she qualifies for can't even afford to pay both day care for her kids and the rent at the same time? I believe the need justifies the welfare offer. We can blame her for her decisions, be she is only human. So she believe him when he said he loved her, she moved in with him and gave him two kids, then he abandons her. He leaves her with two kids and rent ot pay. Blaming her solves nothing. What of women who are raped and get pregnant that way? Will we now say that was her fault too? 84% of welfare recipients have no college education. Many things in life hinder one's education, so its not their fault they can't get a big time job. But contrary to the stereotype that most welfare recipients are lazy and unwilling to work, majority of welfare recipients (70%) have recent work experience. In 2004, according to the National Survey of American Families, of the total number of African-Americans receiving AFDC or TANF benefits, about 28% were working full-time and about 26% were working part-time, bringing the total of African-Americans on welfare who had some form of employment to 54%. The National Survey ofAmerican Families, in 1997, reported that about 40% of all welfare recipients reported genuine barriers to employment which include poor eduction, lack of child care, and poor physical and mental health. These statistics flatly contradict the claim that the typical African-American welfare recipient is unemployed and unwilling to find work, and reveals the underling gross over-generalization in the elaboration of the anti-welfare campaign myth. The notion that the typical welfare recipient is lazy and unwilling to work ignores the fact that welfare recipients have significantly higher barriers to employment than the average of the population. The level of educational attainment and not laziness is a significant predictor of whether a woman would be a welfare recipient or not. Most welfare recipients qualify only for jobs in low-wage secondarymarkets with the jobs being often temporary and seasonal or part time nature. The jobs offer unstable hours and with no health-care nor family leave benefits. The need for child care and transportation assistance is also a major barrier to employment. About two-thirds of welfare recipients tested on the Armed Forces Qualifying Test, which is considered a strong measure of future employment earnings, show that most individuals on welfare score on the bottom quartile (lowest 25%). Low scores correlate to low-wage jobs and, therefore, a need for continued welfare income support. Women with low skills find it very difficult to find steady employment and generally tend to long periods of unemployment interspersed with short periods of low paying seasonal or unstable jobs. In short, most women on welfare are on welfare because they are largely unemployable rather than lazy and unwilling to find work. Many opponents of expanded welfare program complain that welfare recipients stay on welfare for too long and tend to become addicted to welfare and and are unwilling to find work. But official statisticshave shown that 80% of recipients spend five years and below on welfare and that only 20% spent more than 5 years. The poor aren't lazy, just unluky. Life is unkine to the best of us.