Public Welfare
The phrase “public welfare” generally refers to social services and benefits offered by national, state or local governments in some form or fashion. Depending on your welfare definition, this can include social welfare programs, child welfare and general welfare opportunities for people who have various needs and can demonstrate sufficiently that they meet all of the necessary requirements to receive public welfare benefits. Among the more popular general and social welfare programs available through the government are Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (“TANF”), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”), the WIC program, and more. We will discuss the general status of public welfare in this article, including the history of welfare, some welfare facts, welfare statistics and how welfare abuse is combated.
Records of welfare programs have existed for hundreds of years and show a concentrated effort by the leaders of nations and communities to take care of those who are in need. These nations and communities include the Roman Empire (particularly actions taken by Caesar Trajan), biblical Jewish customs, the Roman Catholic church (especially during medieval times), under Islamic law (dating as far back as the 7th century) and on into English laws, beginning with the English Poor Law of 1601.
These trends continued into the United States and were particularly accelerated by the Great Depression of the 1930s. Out of that terrible economic era came the Social Security Act of 1935 and the creation of the Social Security Administration, which has spawned into many of the major public welfare programs that are available today through various means of welfare reform.
General United States Welfare Facts and Statistics
Out of the initial general welfare and social welfare programs of the 1930s, the Untied States has developed some massive programs to assist the poor and needy, including those described above. The scope of these programs is immense. For example, the TANF program keeps reserves of $2 billion alone, let alone the $5 billion that was spent on the program during the 2009-2010 fiscal year. Additionally, the various Social Security programs provided by the government make up a combined 40% of all expenditures on the government’s annual budget.
Fighting Welfare Abuse
There is a continual fight against welfare abuse by the governments that offer these public welfare programs. This includes the implementation of audits, personal visitations and, where possible, Electronic Balance Transfer (“EBT”) cards. An EBT card mimics a basic banking debit card in most ways, including the use of a Personal Identification Number (“PIN”) and a magnetic strip on the back that allows the card to be used at any traditional credit or debit card terminal. In the context of welfare programs in the United States, the EBT cards can limit what type of items are purchased with it. This has been especially helpful in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (also known as Food Stamps), which prohibits the purchase of such items as alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical drugs.
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