Central cities increasingly have become home to those who rely on welfare, subsidized health care and other social services. Although poverty has declined in central cities, urban poverty rates are still twice as high as suburban rates.
In the nation's largest cities, the proportion of all residents who are poor is close to 20 percent, compared with only 8 percent in suburbs taken as a whole. Because the poverty population is disproportionately concentrated in big cities, the cities are obligated to spend more of their own fiscal resources per resident to combat poverty as compared to smaller cities, especially most suburbs with a lower percentage of poor residents.
The cost of the concentration of poverty in the big cities drives many non-poor residents and viable businesses to migrate to the suburbs. The withdrawal of households and firms from big cities impairs the cities" ability to provide adequate services to their residents, both poor and non-poor. For these reasons, many urban citizens rely on the welfare system.
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It is important to first address the many myths that the American public holds about welfare. According to a press release in April 1996, " The Values We Live By: What Americans Want From Welfare Reform," 65 percent of Americans say that the most upsetting thing about welfare is that " it encourages people to adopt the wrong lifestyle and values" as opposed to that " it costs too much in tax money." They believe that the welfare system contradicts the fundamental values of society, which include work, responsibility and self-discipline. .
The public argues that the centerpiece of welfare reform should be work. President Clinton agrees. He said, "The best antipoverty program is still a job." For many, the notion that welfare recipients can obtain benefits without working seems wrong. These citizens believe that the recipients should be required to do something in exchange for their benefits.