Social Welfare Myths and Facts

Recently I wrote that the folk who argue against and condemn the abuses in social welfare programs such as SSDI, Soc. Sec., Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps) and the like really are making a case for the need of increasing the size of government while they maintain they want to reduce the size of government. To have enough folk to monitor those programs you need more government workers not less. Thus their arguments make not logical sense.

In this piece I want to deal with some of the misinformation folk get about these programs.

First, basic data: We spend about $59 billion on regular social welfare program. You can contrast this to the $92 billion we spend on corporate subsidies about 50% more. Our social welfare programs account for about 3% of our annual budget.

Forbes magazine, spokesman for the rich folk look at SSDI as “a parasite on our capitalistic system.” They promote the old saw that folk with low paying jobs find it easier to go on the dole that to work; poopooing the idea that the Walton’s low paying jobs have no affect on this. They also promote that there are lawyers and doctors who help promote fraud for indolent lazy folk. They also point out more folk are on the dole since Obama took office, ignoring things like the economy and the hard line right which may ruin the economy for everyone. They come down hard on SNAP (food stamps) and are blasé about the fact that most of the recipients of SNAP are children. I wonder if the want to get rid of child labor laws as well.

To check out other myths try this website for more myths about welfare programs such as: “People on welfare are lazy and sit at home collecting it while the rest of us work to support them.” Or “People who go on welfare stay on it forever,” or this popularized by Ronald Reagan about the “Welfare Queen’ - “There’s a woman in Chicago.  She has 80 names, 30 addresses, 12 Social Security cards. … She’s got Medicaid, getting food stamps and she is collecting welfare under each of her names. Her tax-free cash income alone is over $150,000″-Ronald Reagan

The main problem with that great story is that it was and is totally fictitious. More myths: “Welfare recipients keep on having more kids so they can get more benefits”, and “I see these guys all the time, hanging out and drinking an doing drugs, collecting welfare instead of working.” Or, “Most welfare recipients are minorities. And, “People collect welfare instead of work, and they get rich. They all have iPhones, drive new cars, have widescreen tb’s etc. I work and I can’t afford any of that!”  Check them all out, they just aren’t true.

There is a similar myth buster of the top 8 here   

Statistic Verification

Source: US Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Commerce, CATO Institute

Research Date: 9.10.2013

Welfare is the organized public or private social services for the assistance of disadvantaged groups. Aid could include general Welfare payments, health care through Medicaid, food stamps, special payments for pregnant women and young mothers, and federal and state housing benefits. The Welfare system in the United States began in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. Opponents of Welfare argue that it affects work incentives.

Welfare Statistics
Total number of Americans on welfare	12,800,000
Total number of Americans on food stamps	46,700,000
Total number of Americans on unemployment insurance	5,600,000
Percent of the US population on welfare	4.1 %
Total government spending on welfare annually (not including food stamps or unemployment)	$131.9 billion
Welfare Demographics
Percent of recipients who are white	38.8 %
Percent of recipients who are black	39.8 %
Percent of recipients who are Hispanic	15.7 %
Percent of recipients who are Asian	2.4 %
Percent of recipients who are Other	3.3 %
Welfare Statistics
Total amount of money you can make monthly and still receive Welfare	$1000
Total Number of U.S. States where Welfare pays more than an $8 per hour job	39
Number of U.S. States where Welfare pays more than a $12 per hour job	6
Number of U.S. States where Welfare pays more than the average salary of a U.S. Teacher	8
Average Time on AFCD (Aid to Families with Dependent Children)
Time on AFDC	Percent of Recipients
Less than 7 months	19%
7 to 12 months	15.2%
1 to 2 years	19.3%
2 to 5 years	26.9%
Over 5 years	19.6%
Top 10 Hourly Wage Equivalent Welfare States in U.S.
State	Hourly Wage Equivalent
Hawaii	$17.50
Alaska	$15.48
Massachusetts	$14.66
Connecticut	$14.23
Washington, D.C.	$13.99
New York	$13.13
New Jersey	$12.55
Rhode Island	$12.55
California	$11.59
Virginia	$11.11

For more sites check these out: http://jumpshotjarrod.newsvine.com/_news/2011/08/01/4155152-debunking-republican-lies-about-welfare

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Inequality&Health.htm

Here are some more statistics:

From Steve Kanga's research: 
Time on AFDC Overview of Entitlement Programs, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1994)

Less than 7 months	19.0%
7 to 12 months	15.2
One to two years	19.3
Two to five years	26.9
Over five years	19.6

The largest single group "on welfare" is children -- about one in every four children under the age of 18 receives welfare benefits. America has the greatest level of child poverty anywhere in the industrialized world:

Percent of children below the poverty level (U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, P60-185)

1970	14.9%
1975	16.8
1980	19.5
1985	20.1
1990	19.9
1992	21.1

It is one thing to lie about the data and it is another thing to do so self-righteously. That is a far cry from being our brothers and sister’s keepers, caring for our neighbors, and being hospitable as scriptures teach. Those that promote the myths about the poor in our society, should go into the logging businesses and pull of the mote/s logs in their own eyes.