1. Chapter Nineteen Social Welfare

2. Types of Programs  Benefit most citizens, no means test (e.g., Social Security and Medicare)  Benefit a few citizens, means tested (e.g. Medicaid and Food Stamps) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 2

3. Popular Support  Majoritarian benefit programs are sacrosanct  The appeal of client-based, means-tested programs changes with popular opinion Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 3

4. Social Welfare in the United States  The appeal of client-based, means-tested programs changes with popular opinion  America has been slower than other nations to embrace the welfare state  State and private enterprise play a large role in administering welfare programs  Non-governmental organizations play a large role Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 4

5. Non-Governmental Organizations- NGO’s  Contracts and grants are awarded to national non-profit organizations, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Jewish Federations, and Catholic Charities, among others  Charitable Choice : provision that allowed religious non-profit organizations to compete for grants to administer welfare-to-work and related policies  Faith-based organizations playing prominent roles in urban welfare-to-work programs. Controversy over whether or not this blurs church/state boundaries Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 5

6. Social Security Act of 1935  Insurance for the unemployed and elderly—workers contribute and benefit  Everybody is eligible for insurance programs  Assistance for dependent children, the blind, and the elderly  Assistance programs are means tested Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 6

7. Medicare Act of 1965  Medical benefits were omitted in 1935 in order to ensure passage of the Social Security Act  Covers medical care for the poor and pays doctors’ bills for the elderly Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 7

8. Who Benefits?  The public insists that it be only those who cannot help themselves  There is a slow, steady change in popular views, distinguishing between the deserving and the undeserving  The American public prefers to give services, not money, to help the “deserving poor” Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 8

9. Reforming Welfare Programs  Problem: there will soon be insufficient people paying Social Security taxes to provide benefits for every retired person  Most solutions are opposed by the public  Health care issues will remain on the political agenda Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 9

10. Table 19.2: Post–1970 Government Health Care Spending in Ten Countries Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 10

11. Possible Solutions for Social Security  Raising the retirement age to 70, freezing retirement benefits, and raising Social Security taxes  Privatizing Social Security  Combine the first two reforms, and allow citizens to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes into mutual funds Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 11

12. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)  Block grant program  Had strict federal requirements about work, limited how long families can receive federally funded benefits  By 2003, welfare caseloads had declined nationally by 60% Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 12

13. Figure 19.1: SSI, TANF, and Food Stamp Recipients, 1980-2002 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 13

14. Majoritarian Politics  Costs and benefits are widely distributed Examples: Social Security Act, Medicare Act  Question of legitimacy: conservatives argued that nothing in the Constitution authorized the federal government to spend money this way Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 14

15. Client Politics  Family assistance politics are less about cost than about the legitimacy of beneficiaries Example: TANF program  Beneficiaries changed: 1996-2003, able-bodied adults had a harder time getting benefits, but child- care spending in most states rose by 50% or more Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 19 | 15