Welfare Policy in America

Welfare Policy in America
NameCourse
Institution
Due Date
Welfare Policy in America
Introduction
Welfare is a concept that refers to the role that the government plays in ensuring the protection and promotion of the economy alongside the social well-being of the citizens. The concept works on the premise of equitable distribution of wealth, responsibility towards the public, and equal opportunities. In the USA, Welfare is a government-assisted program focusing on helping vulnerable citizens unable to cater to their basic needs. The entire program receives funding from taxpayers, with those eligible receiving payments either fortnightly or once a month. Welfare provides for food, housing, medical care, and other financial assistance as defined by the guiding laws.[U.S. Const., §1, Art. 8] [Keuschnigg, Christian. Outsourcing, Unemployment and Welfare Policy. (Science Direct, 2009),1]
The U.S. welfare system entails various activities focusing on assisting the underprivileged in the United States of America to meet their basic needs, including the demonstration of a dignified life. The help focuses on different target groups that include but are not limited to Childcare, child nutrition programs, benefits to immigrants, supplemental security income, and electronic benefits transfer system. The conflicts surrounding public policy emerge from various popular opinions as concerns legislative proposals presented before the U.S. Congress and state legislatures. The various deliberations about policy solutions entail demand considerations for a change within the status quo, the mentions of the constitutionality of governmental intervention measures, cost, and benefits as per the solution proposed ethical considerations alongside long-term consequences.[Keuschnigg, Outsourcing, Unemployment and Welfare Policy, 2]
State of the Budget Report on Entitlement Spending
The welfare budget of the Federal government spreads across federal agencies and reveals the federal welfare budget as a unit. The welfare budget comprises 13 different unique programs that historically represent the third-largest entitlement programs. In this case, the representation is more than unemployment and Medicaid Program and smaller than Medicare alongside Social Security. For instance, the spending in the Welfare programs accounted for approximately $388 billion in the 2020 fiscal year. The inclusion of Medicaid made overall spending on welfare a total of $847 billion in the fiscal year 2020. Such spending represents an estimated 13% of the entire federal government spending.[Vogel, Harold. Entertainment industry economics: A guide for financial analysis. (CambridgeUniversity Press, 2020), 2] [Ibid]
In the 21st century, the welfare state policy has experienced few challenges as it pertains to global economic changes, racial relations, and technology. Such changes call for strong responses from the welfare policy, including a detailed analysis of the innovations. The mention of the word Welfare in America has the implication of the government bearing the health responsibility of Americans. However much the Welfare system, alongside policies, provides more than health. The system much more focuses on the protection of the citizens’ health besides other provisions. The U.S. welfare system, alongside supporting policies, relates to exemplary performance despite a few challenges on the issues pertaining to finances. For instance, the current global economic crisis poses a potential danger towards the operations of the U.S. welfare arrangements. However, the operations of the welfare policies are deemed to work well, such as the working of TANF and Medicare.[Croll, Elisabeth. Social welfare reform: Trends and tensions. The China Quarterly 159 (1999): 686] [Elisabeth, Social welfare reform: Trends and tensions, 690]
The Welfare provision focuses on different goals besides just ensuring equality in society. The policy provides greater opportunities to marginalized groups such as the women, the needy, children, and the mentally disabled. The whole idea was pegged on the foundation of empowering the less fortunate in society. However, in the current proposition, the community needs have widened with the increase in the cost of living resulting from the financial crisis that has hit the United States recently. The consequent result is the presence of more people who currently require welfare compared to previous years. Such expansion of need could probably be explained through high divorce rates within the American society alongside citizens’ orientation towards capitalism.[Massaro, Thomas. United States welfare policy: A Catholic response. (Georgetown UniversityPress, 2007), 50] [Moehling, Carolyn. The American Welfare System and Family Structure an Historical Perspective. Journal of Human Resources 42, no. 1 (2007): 117]
The argument on such inclinations is that the state is left with the entire responsibility of welfare provision. The under-privileged currently benefits from government provision as well as other philanthropists and well-wishers, despite the numbers increasing annually. However, the welfare provision also attracts some level of failure, such as cases of child abuses that relate to laxity from social workers alongside inefficiency of welfare provision. Such failures, amongst others, have caused different calls for reform as pertains to the coerciveness of the system that results in more social problems such as homelessness.[Elisabeth, Social welfare reform: Trends and tensions, 690] [Dettlaff, Alan and Reiko Boyd. Racial disproportionality and disparities in the child welfare system: Why do they exist, and what can be done to address them?. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 692, no. 1 (2020): 255.]
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF) objective should focus on providing for needy families. Thus, should encourage children’s nurturing at home, therefore promoting the preparation of jobs, employment opportunities, and marriage. Further, there should be support and the creation of a society that values two-parent families, thus preventing the occurrence of illegitimate children through out-of-wedlock families.[Vogel. Entertainment industry economics: A guide for financial analysis. 1]
The TANF should only encourage the provision of services and goods as per the family’s requirements limiting the provision of cash incentives. Such failure on cash provision prevents parental irresponsibility issues that negatively influence the majority of families. The provision is channeled through relevant and legitimate organizations such as hospitals (Medicaid), schools, homes, and the set social welfare organizations constituted by volunteer social workers who provide their free services. There is a need for such a program to be institutionalized owing to more social problems in contemporary society.[Elisabeth, Social welfare reform: Trends and tensions, 696]
Reformists have stated the perception as pluralistic ignorance constrains individuals to overestimate their risk behaviors while underestimating their ability to adopt positive livelihoods. The consequence of such an attitude is that individuals adapt their behaviors to align with the misconstrued perception of the family u...