The Welfare State in the United States of America - Term Paper Example

?The Welfare in the United s of America Introduction A welfare akin to socialism, is a government that provides for the total well being of its citizenship. Given that socialism and democracy are not compatible political ideologies, the United States cannot be classified a true welfare state. Indeed, the United States welfare system has provided some social insurance or create some programs to help provide benefits and economic assistance to no or low income Americans but do not aim at the redistribution of wealth nor mediation of class struggle. Funded and managed by the U.S. government, these programs aspire towards ensuring economic security, universal access to resource for self-development and the reduction of social suffering, such as poverty and illness (Barr 4). Modern liberalism is the guiding philosophy of the United States Welfare System (McGowan 7). The philosophy says that individual liberty depends on positive rights such as social security, unemployment benefits, health care, and public education. Historically, welfare in the United States can be traced to the British Poor Laws, which distinguish between those unable to work due to age or physical challenges and those who are medically fit to work but are unemployed (Welfare Information welfareinfo.org). Monetary assistance was given to the former group while public service employment was provided for the later group by the government. Following the American Civil War, the United State Congress passed the Civil War Pension Program to provide aid to Civil War Veterans and their families (Welfare Information welfareinfo.org). The United States welfare system, as currently known, started under President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a result of the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, one in every four of the American labor force was unemployed and many families underwent great financial hardship. The Franklin D. Roosevelt government stepped in to solve the problem. The Social Security Act, which established a number of programs designed to provide relief to various segment of the population, was enacted in 1935 (Welfare Information welfareinfo.org). Currently, welfare programs created in the United States include Medicaid, Food Stamps, Supplemental Security Income, Housing and Urban Development programs, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Head Start, Work Study, Medicare, and Social Security (Welfare Information welfareinfo.org). The politics, benefits and issues related to these programs as well as a comparison of United States welfare programs with welfare programs in other countries will be discussed in the term paper. Welfare programs in the United States: issues and politics Assisting the needy while not encouraging them to seek employment forms the foundation of the politics of the United States welfare programs. By the 1990s, welfare reform dominated the political scene due to a number of reasons. In fact, Republicans campaigned for an “end to welfare as we know it”, a policy theme, the President Clinton administration embraced (Politics and Social Welfare wps.prenhall.com). The reasons for these reforms were cogent and apparent. First, was the fact that most women can continue to work after childbirth and there was no reason for welfare mothers, who stay at home to claim welfare package. Another reason was the observation that some Americans were having more children in order to receive more aid. Furthermore, there was an alarming increase in unmarried mothers, for which welfare package was the incentive. Last, was the increasing number of voluntary unemployment among the labor class. Thus there was increasing dissatisfaction with welfare as epitomized by Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) among many Americans, and welfare reform forms a hot topic in the 1990s. In 1996, the United States Congress passed the Welfare Reform Act that gave the control of welfare system to states. Abolishing the AFDC, the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 support a system of block grants to states, constraining the states to spend at least 75% of the funds previously spent on AFDC. Under the Act, cash benefits could be given to unwed parents under 18 years old provided they lived with an adult and attended school. Debate continues over additional reforms, which include subsidized day care, increases in minimum wage, health care for the poor, and expansion of the Food Stamp programs. There is also a debate over the establishment of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the White House by the President George W. Bush’s Administration (Politics and Social Welfare wps.prenhall.com). This Initiative allows religious organizations such as churches, synagogues and mosques, and charities to receive federal grants to assist them in providing food, job training and counseling, substance abuse programs, and other aid. Critics regard the Initiative as a violation of the No Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Health care reform is another welfare program that has been under political tension due to the inter-related issues of controlling cost and expanding access. Opinion differs on the path to take on health care reform cutting costs while making health care accessible to most Americans. For instance, the Clinton’s administration’s health care reform task force proposed a plan that required Americans as well as permanent resident aliens to enroll in a health plan and at the same time made provision for Americans below certain income threshold to pay nothing (Nix blog.heritage.org). The plan, which was decried by Republicans as overcomplicated, failed. Currently, the President Obama’s Administration faces similar huddles in his health care plan that seeks to make available health insurance to Americans that are without coverage while concurrently preventing the cost of health care from climbing. Two options are available: changing the structure and culture of Medicare through empowering patients to make health care decisions that lead to best results, in addition to forcing plans and providers to compete for the money; and top-down bureaucratic control of the cost of health care services. Of course, these options will reduce the cost but will simultaneously reduce the quality of health care (Nix blog.heritage.org). The first option, which was taken by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, has been described to give Medicare patients control over cost of services and freedom to choose how they access these services. The result according to Heritage’s Robert Moffit and James Capretta is value in return for the dollars (Nix blog.heritage.org). President Obama opted for the second option: tightening the top-down bureaucracy and reducing Medicare payment to doctors and hospitals, in addition to reducing providers’ reimbursement rates (Nix blog.heritage.org). This option leads to reduced senior access to doctors. The fact that Congress continues to delay in reducing doctors salaries suggests that the second option is not politically attractive. Benefits of United States welfare programs Despite the reforms and ongoing debates, there are welfare programs that are state regulated programs for those who live under the minimum accepted level means as determined by each state government. These programs include TANF, the Child support program, child care, energy or utility assistance, food assistance, medical assistance, and vocational rehabilitation services. The Temporary Assistance for the Needy Families, TANF, is aimed at providing income for families so that children, elderly, or other dependants can be taken care of. To be eligible for TANF, heads of household must be working to obtain job training in order to leave welfare programs. Another welfare program aimed at assisting families is the Child Support program. This program provide families with state regulated child care placement assistance in order to provide parents/caretakers the time needed for working or job training. The Food Stamps program was created to help household acquire food for the home without using other sources of income on groceries. However, restrictions apply on the items that can be purchased with the Food Stamps. To assist those who cannot afford to pay for basic utility needs, such as heat, electricity and/or gas and water, the energy or utility assistance program was created. It supplements part of or provide 100% of the monthly utility costs like the child support program. The medical assistance program under the Medicare and Medicaid provide the necessary coverage for health care and well being in addition to providing for regular doctor visits, prescriptions, dental care and eye care. United States welfare programs vs programs in other countries Unlike welfare states founded on democratic socialism, the American welfare system is based on liberalism. Americans designed their welfare system to address market shortcomings and provide what the private sector cannot provide. Redistribution of political power or mediation of class struggle is far from the objectives. The United States government does not intervene in the economy beyond the transfers provided the markets can produce the needed goods and services efficiently. Bibliography Barr, N. Economics of the Welfare State. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. McGowan, J. American Liberalism: An interpretation for our time. Chapel Hill: North Carolina University Press, 2007. Nix, K. The President's Medicare Plan: A Trojan Horse to Ratio Health Care? 18 April 2011. 09 May 2011 . Politics and Social Welfare. Power and Social Welfare. 2010. 09 May 2011 . Welfare Information. The History of Welfare. 2011. 09 May 2011 . Read More