Unemployment and poverty pervaded American society during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Fatherless children ran abundant in the streets. Money was worthless unless it was for toilet paper. Many families were evicted from their homes, marriage was delayed, and the birthrate fell. The economic collapse of the 1930s was terrifying. For about seven years, Americans suffered greatly in the Great Depression until in 1933 when Franklin D. Roosevelt started his First Hundred Days campaign, leading to the start up of the government assistance programs. As the years progressed, more government assistance programs came into existence and old ones transformed. Today, there are numerous government assistance programs ranging from food needs to unemployment issues. Having a broad amount of government assistance programs has its pros and cons, which will significantly affect society’s financial, social, and emotional standing as well as the future of the nation.
The government provides enough government programs to share assistance with the 317,018,130 and counting Americans, leading them to have an enormous impact on America. They provide many financial benefits to Americans, such as a safety net in case of hardships, supplemental benefits to sustain a post retirement income, and job opportunities. During hard times, assistance programs can offer people a way to stay out of poverty. In 2012, Social Security kept roughly 21.4 million people out of poverty, and unemployment benefits helped an additional 2.3 million out of poverty. Without government assistance programs, many Americans would be living in poverty, which could lead to a rise in the crime rate, high school drop outs, and many families being evicted from their homes. Life withou...
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...society might just come together as a nation. The future may look dim in the area of government assistance, but hopefully Americans can come past its differences and help each out in this difficult time for the nation.
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The United States felt the reverberating effects of their failing economy during the 1930s. The decade of the 1920s was a period of a newfound “freedom” in which urban populations discovered leisurely activities, women proved their power and equal rights with the emergence of flappers, and the American economy flourished since the exports outweighed the imports. Americans increasingly used credit, which was backed by only their trust in the government, to purchase and pay off mortgages. However, this amounted to the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Suddenly, many citizens lost their jobs, homes, and money held in the banks. A majority of Americans were living under the poverty line, and they were desperate to make a living in order to support their families. The federal government attempted to aid those in need by presenting President Roosevelt’s New Deal program which featured the establishment of several government relief efforts. Nevertheless, the New Deal program was not enough to assist all of America, especially farmers and those living in rural areas. (Bernanke) (Cullis) (Shindo)
Assistance was provided to lower class citizens through New Deal programs. Aid was given to farmers and poor citizens through acts and agencies such as the Rural Electric Act, Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Taylor Grazing Act (“New” 9; Young 159). This government support helped alleviate the poverty resulting from the Great Depression. Over time, these programs assisted in forming a middle class, lowering the poverty rate and allowing a better quality of living for American citizens. In addition to providing assistance to the lower class, the New Deal formed government entitlement programs. Service organizations, such as Social Security and Financial Aid, were created (Brinkley 597). These types of programs influenced Americas relationship with the government, by forming a stronger federal power willing to help the lower class, many of which are still intact today. Branching off these original entitlement programs, there are many government agencies and programs that aim to aid and support the lower class. Food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, Disability, unemployment compensation, and benefits provided for Veterans are all governmentally funded organizations that assist the lower class population (“Budget” 2). The New Deal influenced the relationship between citizens and the American government today by
Many government and community organizations have worked to fill the need of its citizens through social welfare programs. In fact, the American welfare system was designed to benefit impoverished Americans or those affected by serious medical problems (Wikimedia, 2013). These important welfare systems among others have helped shape the American economy. In creating programs that encourage (or lawfully force) candidates to seek employment after a period, promotes economic growth and development. In the U.S there are two prominent social welfare programs: Social Security and Medicare (Krugman, 2007). These two programs have helped many Americans become secure in basic necessities such as healthcare, food and shelter. In order for change to come, there must be a need; where there is a need there is a community. In order for the welfare system to function and grow, important community organizing can be central to the birth of such systems. We will discuss how welfare systems aid, as well as how community organizing has helped bring about change in the welfare system.
During the 1920’s, America was a prosperous nation going through the “Big Boom” and loving every second of it. However, this fortune didn’t last long, because with the 1930’s came a period of serious economic recession, a period called the Great Depression. By 1933, a quarter of the nation’s workers (about 40 million) were without jobs. The weekly income rate dropped from $24.76 per week in 1929 to $16.65 per week in 1933 (McElvaine, 8). After President Hoover failed to rectify the recession situation, Franklin D. Roosevelt began his term with the hopeful New Deal. In two installments, Roosevelt hoped to relieve short term suffering with the first, and redistribution of money amongst the poor with the second. Throughout these years of the depression, many Americans spoke their minds through pen and paper. Many criticized Hoover’s policies of the early Depression and praised the Roosevelts’ efforts. Each opinion about the causes and solutions of the Great Depression are based upon economic, racial and social standing in America.
In the terms of the amount of money spent by the national government, the growth of social welfare activities was the most significant policy change in the role of government takes money from taxpayers or borrows it and disburses cash or in-kind benefits, such as food stamps, to millions of people who qualify because of old age, disability, unemployment, or poverty. (Turner et al. 469)
US Census Bureau. "Poverty Facts | Poverty Rate." Poverty USA We Can End It. United States Conference Of Catholic Bishops, 2012. Web. 26 May 2014. .
It is a commonly known fact that a large percentage of Americans are living on and relying on welfare, which is a government program that provides financial aid to individuals or groups of people who cannot support themselves. Welfare began in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. There are several types of assistance offered by the government, which include healthcare, food stamps, child care assistance, unemployment, cash aid, and housing assistance. The type of welfare and amounts given depend on the individual, and how many children they have. There are many people who honestly need the government assistance, but there are also many who abuse the privilege.
Welfare programs are an important part of American society. Without any type of American welfare, people will starve, children will not receive the proper education, and people will not receive any medical help simply because they do not have the resources available to them. Each of the three aspects of the American welfare system are unique in their own ways because they are funded differently and the benefits are given to different people. While support for these welfare systems has declined in the more recent years, the support for it when it was created was strong.
The welfare system arose in the United States during the Great Depression, by the Social Security Act in the 1930s, providing medical and monetary aid to minorities such as women and their children, the elderly and later, entire families. During the Great Depression the Welfare system helped many families survive. Like many of the relief programs that were put into effect Welfare became a reform program, and remained permanent. Extensions to the original programs that had been created during the Great Depression were created in the New Deal, and Great society. Over this time, Welfare reform became stricter with its policy and was only attainable for a short term. Welfare which was once meant to provide relief to families, has been abused greatly, and has become a serious issue in the United States. The Welfare program is a negative aspect of the government’s social programs, because of the increasing fraudulency and abuse that occurs, in order to meet the welfare eligibility requirements. Welfare system is financed along with the total finances.
Welfare has been a safety net for many Americans, when the alternative for them is going without food and shelter. Over the years, the government has provided income for the unemployed, food assistance for the hungry, and health care for the poor. The federal government in the nineteenth century started to provide minimal benefits for the poor. During the twentieth century the United States federal government established a more substantial welfare system to help Americans when they most needed it. In 1996, welfare reform occurred under President Bill Clinton and it significantly changed the structure of welfare. Social Security has gone through significant change from FDR’s signing of the program into law to President George W. Bush’s proposal of privatized accounts.
I have concluded that there are five major problems within our American government assistance system. One, the welfare system is too generous. There is evidence of this within the article because it states that government assistance spending has more than doubled since 2008. It also states that in poor countries people only have the choice to work or starve. They choose to work long hours and we choose to not work and receive benefits. There is definitely a problem with our assistance system if a single mother could receive more money in benefits than a secretary who works. Two, the welfare system becomes a crutch and acts as a government safety net. It creates idleness and comfort with people who rather receive a generous amount of benefits than work. Three, one-third of people claim disability are actually able to work. Four, states have significantly differen...
Poverty in America is a very complex issue that can be looked at from many directions. There are a plethora of statistics and theories about poverty in America that can be confusing and at times contradicting. It is important to objectively view statistics to gain a better understanding of poverty and to wade through the stereotypes and the haze of cultural views that can misrepresent the situation.The official poverty line in America begins with a person making at or below $12,060. To calculate the poverty line for a family, an additional $4,180 is added to the base of $12,060 for each additional member(“Federal Poverty Level Guidelines”). According to the last U.S. census, over 45 million or 14.5% of Americans are at or below the poverty line(Worstall). At this level, the U.S. poverty level has not changed much from the 1970s when the government began a “War on Poverty.” However,
Census Bureau. (2011, December 14). Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division: Poverty . Retrieved March 16, 2012, from Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/
The idea of the United States government assisting the poor financially, originated nearly 70 years ago (Modern Welfare Programs). The depression was in full flux and the American people were demanding help from the government. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the first federal poverty assistance act called Aid to Dependent Children Act in 1935 (Background: Time for a new Approach). This laid the foundation of the current government entitlement program now called welfare. World War II brought thousands of jobs to America and slowed the growth of the entitlement program. A vast majority of people were employed either directly by the government or through other war related jobs. After the war the economy held strong for the next ten years (Modern Welfare Programs).
Presently, many Americans today who are on government aids, but most of them abuse that help that is giving. Many American families in the United State who apply for welfare; dishonestly apply and use the aid for other uses besides what it is intended for. From personal experience, growing up in Texas with my mother being a single parent, the government assistance was needed. Recently the state of Florida passed a law that would require applicants who are applying for welfare to undergo a drug test. A similar was passed couple of years ago in the state of Michigan, but this law was shot down by the supreme court of the United States stated that it violated the 4th amendment. Public Assistance Drug testing law should have been a federal law years ago because the drug epidemic has been going on for years; government aid was being used to that purpose by some Americans. Public assistance is needed to help individuals with financial difficulties for a temporary time; however, restrictions must be placed on the recipients. States should control benefits, offer diverse assistance, and monitor drug use. There are many states, like Georgia, who want to put a law in place like Florida and Michigan because the abuse of government assistance goes far beyond drugs. Yet there are many support groups that are against this law with going back the 4th amendment.