Is America’s Welfare System Being Abused? Essay Example

Prior to the Great Depression, the United States had no solitary system of monetary assistance to the poor. Congress supported many programs to assist families in need. The Civil War Pension Program, designed to aide Civil War veterans, helped them and their families get back on their feet. Under Roosevelt, the Social Security Act was passed in the latter half of the nineteen-thirties. The pro’s and con’s of today’s welfare system are debatable to no end. Some think it is working perfectly and the way the government designed it while others believe the distribution of it is being abused. There is no debate however, that the system does work in most circumstances. While there are still families collecting more money than they should, and some who do not receive any that should, we can all agree that the system works. In 1966, at the University of Wisconsin, the United States Office of Economic Opportunity created the Institute for Research on Poverty. The staff conducts tests and surveys to see exactly how the system is working at a given time. On the same side, the National Center for Law and Economic Justice confirms the equal distribution of the nation’s money to needy families. How could there be any fallacies in a system that is checked on by organization after organization? The thought of a child going to bed hungry makes most cringe but the cushion the government provides gives them the comfort they need to rest at night. Contrary to popular belief, welfare does not save taxpayers’ dollars. The welfare system today is being abused more than it ever has. If you collect food stamps, why are you giving it to your niece to use while she is away in college? As Charles Murray has pointed out, if you make it attractive for people to get off welfare, you simultaneously make it attractive for others to go on welfare. Someone who has lost a job might find it worthwhile to sign up and let the state find her a new job within two years while providing such