Welfare (a.k.a. Public Aid)

Ma & Pa's Opinion: 
It's not bad. It has a purpose. That purpose is being abused. 

Welfare was created to help those in need and the 
start of programs to help those in need is valid, just and right. 
Those programs were morphing into entitlement but the PRWORA Act of 1996
seems to have helped shift from entitlement to encouragement. 

Ma & Pa are researching this matter further to determine the level of accuracy in this statement. 

Original Purpose

The US Welfare site [1] shares, "The history of welfare in the U.S. started long before the government welfare programs we know were created. In the early days of the United States, the colonies imported the British Poor Laws. These laws made a distinction between those who were unable to work due to their age or physical health and those who were able-bodied but unemployed. The former group was assisted with cash or alternative forms of help from the government. The latter group was given public service employment in workhouses.

Throughout the 1800's welfare history continued when there were attempts to reform how the government dealt with the poor. Some changes tried to help the poor move to work rather than continuing to need assistance. Social casework, consisting of caseworkers visiting the poor and training them in morals and a work ethic was advocated by reformers in the 1880s and 1890s.

Prior to the Great Depression, the United States Congress supported various programs to assist the poor. One of these, a Civil War Pension Program was passed in 1862 and provided aid to Civil War Veterans and their families.

When the Great Depression hit, many families suffered. It is estimated that one-fourth of the labor force was unemployed during the worst part of the depression. With many families suffering financial difficulties, the government stepped in to solve the problem and that is where the history of welfare as we know it really began."

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What's Happening Today

An article on UAkron.edu (looking for cite) shares the following, "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families(TANF) block grant, replacing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and giving states flexibility to create new cash assistance programs for families with children. Although the federal legislation establishes a variety of minimum requirements in some areas, there is considerable flexibility for states to exceed these minimum requirements, and a number of areas are open to state discretion.

The decentralization of control has allowed states to develop innovative welfare programs under the augments of the four principles stated above.The new law reflects a number of key principles:
  • Welfare reform should help move people from welfare to work.
  • Welfare should be a short-term, transitional experience, not a way of life.
  • Parents should receive the child care and the health care they need to protect their children as they move from welfare to work.
  • Child support programs should become tougher and more effective in securing support from absent parents.
  • Because many factors contribute to poverty and dependency, solutions to these problems should not be "one size fits all." The system should allow states, Indian tribes, and localities to develop diverse and creative responses to their own problems.
  • The federal government should focus less attention on payment accuracy and program procedures and place more emphasis on program results.

Sources Are Important: 

We want you to feel comfortable with the data provided and will source our findings. 

[1]: http://www.welfareinfo.org/history/