I’m so tired of people saying the government helps too much, and is giving money to people who are lazy and don’t deserve it. I also hate to bash Republicans, but most Republicans that I know have this attitude. I’m not saying some people aren’t lazy, because some are and some don’t deserve help, but a lot of people do. There are many lies about welfare that people believe to be facts. And why? I guess it’s easier to keep bashing people who are already down. People are in poverty and need help... oh, they must be lazy. Americans are ignorant and we think we know everything without actually looking into it. So I will look into it for you.
First of all, “welfare” is just a term that refers to many different government assistance programs. Some of these programs are SNAP/food stamps, unemployment insurance, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Women, Infants and Children (WIC), tax credits for working families, and social security. All of these programs are a form of government assistance, and a lot of people that are complaining about welfare are actually receiving it in some form.
Conservative politicians keep trying to lower the welfare benefits, when they are already pretty low to begin with. People receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as SNAP, are getting an average of $1.48 per meal. Critics will say, why are they receiving any money for food at all? And the simple answer is that they need help. Nearly half of all Americans will experience at least a year of poverty or near-poverty during their working years, so it could possibly be you or me. And I’m positive when it’s you who needs help you won’t be bashing it and then maybe, just maybe, you’ll feel for these people who currently have to try to live with $1.48 per meal.
https://www.popularresistance.org/infographic-the-...
I know what I’m about to say won’t be accepted by most people. Because these people have grown up with people who have beat into their heads that welfare recipients are just plain lazy and for some reason they choose to live the brutal lifestyle that poverty brings. But most of these people aren’t lazy. A lot of welfare benefits require people to work in order to receive them. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families requires single parents receiving this grant to work at least 30 hours per week, and two-parent families must work between 35 and 50 hours a week. The sad fact is, many Americans working blue-collar jobs and receiving blue-collar wages are still not making enough money to support their families and are eligible for welfare.
The cost of living has continued to increase, but yet the federal minimum wage has not increased for over 5 years. 82% of food stamp recipients go to households that include children, elderly people, or people with disabilities. I’m related to people who will argue until their death that government aid is evil and shouldn’t exist, but how can anyone say these people who legally or physically can’t work don’t deserve help? And what about able-bodied adults who are receiving unemployment? Shouldn’t they just get up and get a job. Most of these people were laid off, and can’t find a job that pays enough to support themselves or their family. I’ve heard critics, and they seem to think working at a fast food place would be better than nothing. And it is better than nothing, but it’s not enough to support a family. Why do some people hate the government for making it possible for someone who was laid off to have time to find another job that provides livable wages?
https://www.justpo.st/channel/in+one+year+the+aver...
Another myth that I’m sick of hearing is that people use welfare to support their drug habits. This is a very widely accepted myth. Research keeps proving that mandated drug testing costs taxpayers more money than it saves. In Tennessee they tested their welfare applicants and only 1-in-800 tested positive for drugs. In Florida, 2.6% tested positive for drugs. Again, it’s easier to say these people need welfare because they’re drug addicts, rather than say they just need help.
http://mountainmantrails.blogspot.com/2015/09/so-y...
I know we all have this idea in our head that we think of when we think of a welfare recipient: a lazy alcoholic who keeps popping out babies to get more and more welfare money, and basically just cheating the whole system so they can buy more iPhones and have a filet for dinner. This is the perfect person to blame America’s problems on. But this person doesn’t exist; this person is just an excuse for people to vote for politicians that want to cut the already meager welfare benefits to struggling families.
People believe once you start receiving welfare, you won’t stop receiving it. But believe it or not government aid is actually successful in getting people out of poverty, and staying out of poverty. Every year, the Census Bureau data proves that welfare is necessary for helping people get out of poverty. And yet ignorant people KEEP arguing to cut the funding. Where else would these people rather see the money go?? Obviously in their own pockets, because screw the people who need help. Everybody is so willing to bash welfare until it’s you who needs help, right?
There are many poverty-reducing programs that we could have that would be inexpensive in comparison with the billions of dollars the government spends on tax-breaks that mainly benefit the wealthy and corporations. These wealthy people are politicians and policymaker’s priorities, because they support them financially. Here are four ways that the U.S. Congress could make a huge dent in poverty that would be more cost effective than current polices the Congress has backed up:
Sources:
http://groundswell.org/7-lies-about-welfare-that-many-people-believe-are-fact/
