Welfare in America - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages The aftermath of the economic depression of the 1930s, was the inclusion of social and employment policies in the constitutional framework of industrialized countries around the world. Like most countries, the United States of America stayed abreast with capitalist development by promising the provision of increased employment opportunities and ensuring the provision of proper security and social justice among all disparate societies. In the years following the economic depression, the United States of America dealt with the posed problems meticulously and made tremendous changes in its constitutional framework in an effort to ensure the protection of senior citizens and poor population. The policy makers and legislators tried to extend the provisions equally among the White and Black American populations. An important step towards the development of an efficient social welfare system was the supplementation of social wages with private wages and the banishment of impoverished old age. (Brown et al 1999). Was Welfare system a failure? The typical problems of a welfare lagged nation such as the absence of a proper health care and housing system were remedied and for most, proper education was guaranteed. Moreover, the elderly American population was ensured protection from the fear of being isolated in the floundering sea of impoverished old age, by the introduction of Public Social Insurance system. The Public Social Insurance system ensured the provision of social security pensions and an efficient system of Medicare which has guaranteed welfare and decelerated the rate of poverty among the American senior citizens. (Brown et al 1999).Despite the strenuous efforts of authorities to prosper towards a welfare state, America’s War against poverty and the struggle towards the implementation of social rights remained unachieved. Some of the primary reasons for defective implementation of social rights and welfare system are; lack of commitment for the establishment of full employment, low expenditures reserved for the public and the over reliance on policies which are means-tested. Despite the fact that American government appreciates individual efforts and claimed to practice equality, the social protection system plunged most individuals into darkness while raised others to high standards of living. (Bornet 1960). By 1980s, the American welfare system reached the end of its developmental phase, but still more than 35 million Americans did not have access to any type of health insurance. Furthermore, an estimated 40 percent of the general public was not entitled to receive any State sanctioned cash transfers. The disparate treatment of individuals was obvious by the fact that approximately forty six percent of the State sanctioned benefits were received by individuals who were classified into the category of provision of top twenty percent of the distribution of income. Moreover, only the upper one third proportions of the families were provided with medical expenses and deduction on interests regarding mortgages. The paradoxical legacy and the perfect example of disparate racial treatments were mirrored by the unfair provisions extended to the African American population. (Trattner 1974). The Black American population had no right to vote and thus had no say in the drawing up of constitutional framework of the United States of America. The African American population was thrown into a floundering sea of ...Download file to see next pagesRead More