"This week we offered a plan to end welfare as we know it "a plan that will .
encourage personality and help strengthen our families through tougher child support, .
more education and training, and an absolute requirement to go to work after a period of .
time."" -Bill Clinton, radio address, 6/18/94. The welfare system is in deep distress.
The United States recently experienced one of the greatest "booms" in our economic .
history. More people were working than ever before. People were buying houses at a .
faster rate than they have in decades. Yet there were many people still living from .
paycheck to paycheck, or welfare check to welfare check. The subject of welfare stirs .
different passions in different people. Some say that those who are on welfare should be .
taken off, with no hope of survival afterward. They should "support themselves," these .
people say. Others believe that these welfare recipients should be able to stay on the rolls .
indefinitely. I think that people who are on welfare, who are physically capable to work, .
should be required to work. However, I also feel that it would be irresponsible of this .
country to throw these people into low-paying jobs with no training or education to help .
them eventually get a better job at a higher wage. We should not "force" them to work; .
we should help them to work and acquire the skills necessary to maintain a good paying .
job.
The criticisms of welfare ranges over a number of social and economic issues. .
Some people criticize welfare programs for not providing high enough benefits to .
eliminate poverty. Spending on welfare would have to increase greatly to eliminate .
poverty, and many people believe the cost is already too high. Many critics of the welfare .
system charge that providing a steady income to needy people encourages idleness. .
Actually, most welfare benefits go to elderly, blind, and disabled people and mothers .
with young children.