What would happen if the United States canceled all social welfare?
A question was raised…
What would happen if the United States canceled all social welfare?
My response…
I sincerely doubt welfare will ever go away completely, although some reductions have already started to be put in place-once again. The first change that I can remember any discussion about, or at least remember hearing anything about was the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, (PRWORA) signed by Bill Clinton. This Act was responsible for instituting TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). TANF placed emphasis on setting time limits for families to receive public assistance, plus it included a mandatory work or skills training component.
So versus a family receiving assistance and doing nothing beyond signing up for it, the hopeful outcome was for TANF recipients to start utilizing some of the accompanying services that promoted self-sufficiency and self-responsibility in exchange for the assistance.
Instead of leaving families with nothing once they have reached their TANF time limits, if they took full advantage of the services offered to them (job training, job placement, or even taking GED classes) while receiving it, they should be able to secure employment and become self-sufficient as a result.
On August 28, 2015 TANF benefits started being cut in half for non-participation in work activities, (refusing to do job seeking or receive job training, refusing job placements, or failure to work 30 hours for a full week during the month, etc.). And on January 1, 2016 family lifetime limits to receive TANF dropped from 60 to 45 months, (this does not affect Food Stamps, Medicaid, etc.).
Although changes are now in effect, you can see that completely ending welfare is not something that the powers-that-be will do at a moment’s notice. It’s just not practical. Changes in our welfare system need to be made, as they have started doing, in increments. Almost on a daily basis, I come across situations that allow me to identify possible remedies for discouraging the abuse and the dependence on public assistance programs.
And as I share with clients who are long-term public assistance recipients, programs such as TANF and utility assistance programs are not guaranteed. Therefore, they need to start taking a serious look at what they could do to start weaning themselves off them. The response is usually, “We’ll deal with that when it happens.” Well at least they have been given a heads-up. Their plight, should programs start to fade away, is their choice.
Theresa Diiti, I’m in the trenches! I have worked in Social Services for the past 16 years.