1. Social Welfare Quarter 2 Policy Project

2. What is Social Welfare?
Social Welfare is "organized public or private social services for the assistance of disadvantaged groups" (2)
Two types of welfare programs:
Majoritarian politics: Nearly everybody pays, nearly            everybody benefits
Client Politics: few people benefit, but almost      everyone pays
            
    
   

3. What is Social Welfare? (cont.)
American welfare began during Great Depression and Social Security Act of 1935
“it was not until the constitutional reinterpretation of the 1930s that it became clear that the federal government could do anything in the area of social policy.” (1; page 482)
 Creation of the AFDC
 Created majoritarian policies

4. Major Events and Legislation: AFDC
AFDC- Aid to Families with Dependent Children (1935)
Originally meant for women with children who were widowed and assist the women until they got remarried
By 1994 only 1/4 of the AFDC mothers were widowed/divorced, and over half had never been married
Became controversial - thought that people were manipulating system of social welfare
AFDC was dropped by 1996, replaced by TANF (1; page )

5. Major Events and Legislation: Replacement of the AFDC with TANF
Example of client politics
 Goals of TANF 
To assist needy families in caring for their children
Reduce dependency of needy parents; provide/promote job preparation, work, and marriage
Preventing out-of-wedlock pregnancy
"Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families" (3)
More favorable program to AFDC
Promoting more favorable ideas; only a "temporary" solution for these families
Service strategy rather than income

6. Major Social Welfare Policies
Social Security
Created with the Social Security Act of 1935 (the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insturance [OASDI] program) following the Great Depression
Created the AFDC
Majoritarian politics
Medicare Act of 1965
 Part A: Everyone Age 65+ is entitled (covers most, but not all, costs of inpatient visits to hospitals)
Part B: Requires enrollment in the program which "pays for doctors' services and outpatient hospital care." (1) 

7. What is the Status of Social Welfare Today?
Government wants to keep programs, but cut down on costs
cut “unnecessary programs,” but not anything too controversial such as Social Security and Medicare
Slowly cracking down on qualifications for various programs. 
ex: age of eligibility for collecting Social Security
Country divided on issue (1)

8. Most Important Issue: Who is qualified and how do you define this?
general agreement that people in need should get help from the government
very controversial to determine who is actually in need of help and who is just using the government
certain income requirements to get benefits
Would defining this bring up or lower costs?

9. How To Solve This Issue:
Hire more bureaucrats to ensure that people aren't taking advantage of the system
Would raise expenses
 Tighten eligibility
May exclude people that should be eligible
 Cut "unnecessary programs"
the people who are receiving benefits from these programs would be upset
No clear-cut solution

10. Which Solution Would Be Most Effective?
Eligibility is hard to define and is a vast problem; best to tackle each issue individually rather than setting vague rules and regulations
Example: Social Security- Raise the Retirement Age (4)
Allow full benefits at 69 (currently, you can begin collecting benefits at 62 if you choose)
Increased life expectancy - people are living longer
"When Social Security first began paying regular benefits, life expectancy was on par with the regular retirement age of 65. In the ensuing 70 years, lifespan has increased by about 15 years, whereas the normal retirement age is only slated to rise by 2 years to 67 by 2027."(5)  

11. Works Cited
(1) Wilson, James Q. American Government. Boston: Houghton Mifflin 
            Company, Pages
(2) "Social Welfare.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. January 16,                         
            2012. 
(3) "About TANF." Administration for Children and 
            Families. 
            /about.html
(4) Kubarych, Roger. “Social Security Reform: The Problem and Proposed                      Solutions.” The Council on Foreign Relations. December 15, 2004/ January 
           17,
           proposed-solutions/p7579.
(5) The Editors. "Simple Steps to Fix Social Security." The New York Times. May 
            24, 2010/January 17,
            /2010/03/24/simple-steps-to-fix-social-security/