Public Agenda Issue Guide: Poverty and Welfare

ISSUE GUIDE: Poverty and Welfare

OVERVIEW

Poverty and Welfare

When Congress enacted sweeping changes in the way the federal government provides public assistance to the poor more than a decade ago, the goal -- in the words of former President Clinton -- was to "end welfare as we know it."

In many respects, that goal has been achieved. The days when someone could receive welfare checks indefinitely are over and welfare rolls have been cut dramatically. But significant numbers of Americans -- some 36.5 million people in 2006 -- still live below the poverty line, according to the Census Bureau. The Department of Agriculture estimates nearly 11 percent of American households suffer from "food insecurity," meaning they don't have access to enough to eat for at least part of the year.

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CONSIDER THE CHOICES

Eliminating the Dependency Trap

Redefining What's Expected from America's Poor

Devising a Jobs Strategy

Government efforts to reduce poverty have made the problem worse by creating a culture of dependency. Welfare programs reward people for being poor, diminish the incentive to work, and undermine the family. The best and most compassionate solution -- and in the long run, the only realistic solution -- is to phase out most welfare benefits. Communities and private charities are better able to help the poor than any government program.
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Poverty deepened for decades because assistance was provided unconditionally prior to welfare reform in 1996. Today, the poor should are expected to play by the rules. In exchange for public assistance, government is entitled to make demands on recipients. Benefits are linked to socially accepted behaviors such as getting a job, and having unwed teenage mothers live with their families or other responsible adults. To succeed, government programs must firmly guide poor people toward responsible, self-reliant, and productive lives.
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The cause of poverty today is the dire shortage of jobs with livable wages and benefits -- and not government programs or the behavior and values of the poor. A successful anti-poverty program has to begin with a realistic assessment of the needs of the working poor. As long as many Americans don't have a good education, and the number of good-paying jobs is far smaller than the number of job seekers, millions of Americans will be impoverished.
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