Essentially, this paper needs to consider the concept and practice of Earned Income Tax Credit(EITC) which is available at the levels of Federal/States in the State of Maryland which not only tenders economic benefits to families under working class economic strains but also help keep these families afloat above the poverty lines (APL) in State of Maryland.
Based on the reading, the federal “Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)” “is a refundable tax credit that is been made available for working families who have a low and enough income to live by”. As social workers, we should be prepared to advocate against policy changes that would reduce the impact of the EITC. Social workers could also support EITC outreach campaigns and advocate for more and
…show more content…
This paper need to consider some of the major benefits in terms of how this has been effective in raising workers out of poverty levels as well as providing ancillary benefits like improving economic aids and also contributing to better health and education of children and other roundabout, indirect benefits. The best ways these are affected are through ensuring that working families claim credits and also expand and disseminate credit features to rope more and more working families of worker classes without qualifying child benefits. The main arguments would be in line with that found in article titled “Evaluation of the Maryland Earned Income Tax Credit-Poverty in Maryland and the Earned Income Tax Credit …show more content…
Such workers would be able to coordinate the flow of information from the government agencies about their programs to the qualifying individuals. This information could be provided at several junctures. For example, when individuals approach the social work organization for housing, case workers could make asking them if they are aware of the income credit programs part of the application process. Similarly, social workers that may be part of the office or administrative staff at such housing authorities could inform individuals who apply for residency. Information on the programs could also be integrated into bills for rent or utilities. The evaluation of the Maryland income credit encourages increased awareness of the federal component of these programs, because it “would have the greatest effect on reducing poverty and is cost-effective to the State” (Maryland, 2014, p. 107), so efforts to increase participation should focus on the federal over the state
In her research, she spent over 600 hours in welfare offices, speaking to caseworkers, social workers, and welfare recipients and potential recipients themselves. She learned first hand how the Act affected the day to lives of poor women and their families, as well as how it affected the caseworkers who not only had to learn the large number of new rules and regulations required by the Act, but also had to deal on a day to day basis with the repercussions these changes had on the lives of their clients.
In the summer of 1996, Congress finally passed and the President signed the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996", transforming the nation's welfare system. The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act sets the stage for ongoing reconstruction of welfare systems on a state-by-state basis. The combined programs will increase from nearly $100 billion this year to $130 billion per year in 6 years. Programs included are for food stamps, SSI, child nutrition, foster care, the bloss grant program for child- care, and the new block grant to take the place of AFDC. All of those programs will seek $700 billion over the next 6 years, from the taxpayers of America. This program in its reformed mode will cost $55 billion less than it was assumed to cost if there were no changes and the entitlements were left alone. The current welfare system has failed the very families it was intended to serve. If the present welfare system was working so well we would not be here today.
Both my personal values and the social work values want to help people in whichever way that they can. I will encourage my clients to take advantage of The Affordable Care Act if they need to. Eric Lindberg wrote an article outlining the effects of The Affordable Care on the profession of social work. What he discovered is that it is valuable to the field, because: “the profession’s increasingly holistic focus on clients in the context of their families and communities, rather than simply in terms of their specific physical or mental ailments, is a major advantage for social work” (Lindberg, 2013). By opening the door to clients that are using the Affordable Care Act as a social worker, I will be allowing more clients to my services. The Affordable Care Act will make it possible for more people to seek out help and be able to have enough money for whatever help they may
Welfare Recipients-False Positives, False Negatives, Unanticipated Opportunities. Women’s Health Issues, Vol. 12(1), pp. 23-31, Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1049-3867(01)00139-6
Working families often cannot pay their rent, or sometimes food. According to an article in The Bill Moyers & Company “Three Steps We Can Take to Solve Poverty, From Someone Who Knows Firsthand” by Tianna Turner, U.S. government should give good tax breaks for companies that provide secure jobs, encourage them to have paid sick and family leave, and invest in affordable and high-quality child care. (Turner) It is true that companies that have tax breaks can utilize tax money to raise the surplus for living wages. Moreover, employees who have paid sick and family leave are more likely perform better in their work because they do not have to worry about the lost hours that result in lost pay. Childcare has always been neglected in the U.S. for a very long time. Many research show that kids in high-quality preschools have better graduation rate from high school, and they tend earn more as adults. If the U.S. childcare system is fix, the parents will have more time to focus on their job, and the overall quality of U.S. citizen will change
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a program that was set in place, in 1975, to improve “the economic status of low-income persons […] granting nearly $40 billion to low-income households” (Borjas, 59). As is clear from the name of the program, The EITC is a program that provides tax credits to those who qualify, the EITC could even produce a negative tax liability for some households, in particular the type I will discuss, which would provide substantial income increases for these households. In order to qualify for the EITC, the recipients must be active members of the labor force, in that they must have labor income, and for the group that I will be focusing on, single mothers, total household income must be below $33,241 for single parents with one child and $37,783 for single parents with two or more children. According to Economist Hillary Hoynes, in a presentation given to the Chicago Federal Reserve Board in 2007, the maximum available credit for a single parent with 1 child was $2,853, with the maximum available credit for single parents with two or more children being $4,716. (Hoynes, 2007) The EITC has provided assistance to countless American families while still providing them with an incentive to remain in the labor force, unlike many other welfare programs. I will focus on a certain subset of people receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit: single-mothers.
Since the Welfare reform law was introduced in 1996 it has impacted American society greatly. The new welfare policy, named the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), replaced the Aid to Family and Dependent Children (AFDC) program; they have five known differences that only affect the ones who need the assistance. Critics argue that the TANF has negatively impacted the society while some argue that it has not. Linda Burnham, author of “Welfare Reform, Family Hardship & Woman of Color,” asserts that “welfare reform has increased the hardship faced by many women leaving welfare for work and their movement into low-wage jobs, exposes them to higher level of housing insecurities, homelessness, food insecurity, and hunger.” She also argues that women of color “are especially vulnerable to the negative impact of welfare reform” (38).
Through research, personal interviews, and first-hand knowledge, I will demonstrate how the Welfare Assistance Program in New York State is nothing short of a parasite, which drains its recipients of their dignity, ambition and dreams of a better life while disguising itself as temporary aid to those in need. In order to understand this subject, the best place to start is the beginning of the process. To receive benefits, one must first meet eligibility requirements. These requirements are regularly updated and published by The New York Public Welfare Association (New York Public Welfare Association, 2011). The NYPWA states that a social workers review the income, size of family, and demonstration of need of all its applicants. Factors such as medical emergencies, pregnancy, homelessness, or unemployment are most common need factors seen when reviewing applications.
Welfare recipients are now expected to get a job within the first two years of receiving assistance. It is unclear what will happen when people are forced off of public assistance. In 1998 there was a 3% decline in the poverty level, yet a 35% decline in the number of people receiving public assistance. (Morales, Sheafor, 2000). It is clear that ending AFDC did not solve the problem of poverty in the United States.
Being raised in a single-parent lower class home, I realize first-hand the need for welfare and government assistance programs. I also realize that the system is very complex and can become a crutch to people who become dependent and complacent. As a liberal American I do believe that the government should provide services to the less fortunate and resources to find work. However, as able-bodied citizens we should not become complacent with collecting benefits and it is the government’s job to identify people who take advantage of the system and strip benefits from people who are not making efforts to support themselves independently. I will identify errors that exist within the welfare system and several policy recommendations to implement a change that will counteract the negative conditions that currently exist.
...el). The second option is the guaranteed basic income program. Basic income program is a program where the government provides its citizens with income, regardless of whether they work. Finally, households with children could benefit by increasing the child tax credit program. This strategy will directly help low-income families with kids and will not affect business owners who forced to pay higher minimum wages to their workers (Mathews, Rose).
Obviously a question that will arise is where the funding will come from, well mainly from the lovely thing called taxpayers’ money. Its time they put a stop to seemingly wasteful projects and integrate it to ones beneficial to the society as a whole. Thereafter, once they are housed the assistance program will continue their support by linking them with employment, and attaining rapid access to other needed services such as Medicaid, and food stamps. Some people simply require a little push to get them back on their feet. Once affordable housing is made more available along with the assisting that helps maintain it, all excuses should be out the door.
Recently Roosevelt’s Social Welfare Program has become a topic of heated debate. Welfare has come a long way since Roosevelt, it was once a system that help those in need until they could get back on their feet, now welfare has turned into a system that feeds money to a group of people that have become to lazy to find work. Talk of replacing the old system with a welfare program that will emphasize putting welfare recipients to work has become very frequent. More and more stated are now beginning to adopt a “welfare-to-work” program, leaving other states to simply ponder about the idea of “taking people off the system.” Those in favor of welfare reform argue that a welfare-to-work program will cut the amount of people on welfare causing a surplus of funds. These people base their idea on the overwhelming success of those states who have already adopted such a program. Nationwide, welfare caseloads have declined significantly since the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. In the few months since the bill went into effect the amount of welfare caseloads are down by approximately 2 million. Figures also show that Alabama reduced its welfare enrollment by 48%, and Indiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee reduced theirs by 49%. In Wisconsin welfare was reduced by 58% and Wyoming’s cases dropped an amazing 73% (Source: Dept.
As many have noticed, since President Donald Trump has been elected there has been word that the Affordable Care Act will be repealed and replaced. The Affordable Care Act has offered major progress for helping to offer all Americans health care. According to Christina M. Andrews, Julie S. Darnell, Timothy D. McBride, and Sarah Gehlert “The profession has much to contribute to the implementation of the ACA” (2013). Social workers have worked hard to find a plan that benefits Americans for the greater good and The Affordable Care Act has made that
Social welfare policy and the review of the YouTube video “The Tip Of The Iceberg: Social Work, Social Justice and Social Action – Darrell Wheeler, Ph.D.” The video gets off to a slow start but once the keynote speaker steps up to the mic, he begins to describe social work, social justice and social action with incredible intellect and very few notes. Dr. Wheeler knows his subject area extremely well and is passionate in leading others by sharing his knowledge.