The welfare system has been changed since the War on Poverty in 1960s. Right now there are about 80 different welfare programs. Those Programs provide “cash,food, housing, medical care, and social service to poor and lower-incomeAmericans.”
自20世紀60年代向貧困宣戰福利制度已發生變化。目前大約存在80種不同的福利項目。這些(福利)項目提供“現金、食物、住房、醫療保健和社會服務給窮人和低收入的美國人。”
Everything has its good side and badside. In one hand, welfare really helps poor and the lower-income families, and provides them basic things for their life. Probably the people on welfare are disabled, so they cannot work. On another hand, the welfare is unfair for the taxpayers since they work so hard to get the money. And there are people onwelfare even though they have ability to work. And because those welfare programs, a lot of people start to quit their jobs. This also causes some youngkids begin to think they don’t need a job to get money, so the kids begin to drop out of school since they think education is unnecessary if they can get free money.
任何事物都有其好的一面和糟糕的一面。一方面,福利真正幫助窮人和低收入家庭,提供他們基本的生活保障。享受福利的人很有可能是無工作能力的，因此他們不能工作。另一方面,福利對納稅人來說是不公平的,因為他們很努力工作賺錢。有些人即使有能力去工作同樣享受福利。甚至因為這些福利項目，許多人開始停止工作。這也導致一些年輕人開始認為他們不需要工作賺錢，因為這些孩子認為，假如能領到免費的收入教育是沒必要，因此他們開始退學。
Temporary Assistance for NeedyFamilies (TANF) is one of the United States of America’s federal assistance programs. It began on July 1,1997, and succeeded the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, providing cash assistance to indigent American families with dependent children through the United States Department of Healthand Human Services. This cash benefit is often referred to simply as “welfare”.This program is designed to help needy families achieve self-sufficiency. One of the purposes for this program is to let the children be care at their home.The family has to have a child who has to be 18 years old or younger than 18years old. If the child is older than 18 years old, he or she has to be a fulltime student and graduate before 20 years old. Also, TANF makes the parents more prepared for get a job and get out of house to work, because the people who receive TANF have to work within 2 years after they starting getting TANF.And also, TANF helps two-parents family stay as it, because one person can only stay on the TANF 60 month in their lifetime.
貧困家庭臨時救助(TANF)是美國聯邦援助項目的一個。它開始于1997年7月1日, 繼承了有子女家庭補助(AFDC)計劃，通過美國衛生部提供取決于兒童的現金援助給貧困的美國家庭。這個現金收益通常簡稱為“福利”。這個項目的目的是幫助貧困家庭實現自給自足。這個項目的目的之一是讓孩子們在家里得到關懷。這個家庭必須有一個18歲或18歲以下的孩子。如果孩子年齡超過18歲,他或她必須是一個20歲以下的全日制學生和畢業生。并且TANF使(被救助孩子的)父母準備找份工作,走出家門去工作,因為那些接收TANF救助的人必須在從拿到TANF補助開始的2年內開始工作。另外,TANF同樣幫助雙親家庭,因為一個人一生中只能在TANF得到時長60個月的救助。
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)Card: People can use the EBT card in any store and also the ATM machine. Butsurely, there are some limits on using these cards. People can buy the foodsfor the household to eat, such as breads and cereals, fruits and vegetables,meats, fish and poultry, and dairy products. People can also buy seeds andplants that produce food for the household to eat. But with EBT card, peoplecan’t buy drug, alcohol, any nonfood items, vitamins and medicines, food thatwill be eaten in the store and hot foods. One of the requirements to get a EBTcard is at least one of the households is older than 60 years old or disabled.
Office of Head Start (OHS): The HeadStart Program is a program of the United States of the United States Departmentof Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive early childhoodeducation, health, nutrition, and parent involvement service to low-incomechildren and their families. Launched in 1965by its creator and the firstdirector Jule Sugarman, Head Star was originally conceived as a catch-up summerschool program that would teach low-income children in a few weeks what theyneeded to know to start elementary school. The Head Start Act of 1981 expandedthe programs. As of late 2005, more that22 million children had participated. The program’s effectiveness has beendebated in a range of studies: advocates claim that its successes are obvious,opponents respond that it produces both substantial successes and substantialfailures and others that its failures are sufficient to warrant its abolition.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)program pays benefits to disabled adults and children who have limited incomeand resources. SSI benefits also are payable to people 65 and older without disabilitiesthat meet the financial limits. Income limits may vary bases on the state inwhich the individual lives, their living arrangement, the number of peopleliving in the residence, and the type of income.
Lifeline that is also called “ObamaPhone”, this program is “administered by the Federal Communications (FCC).”Since 1985, the Lifeline program has provided a discount on phone service forqualifying low-income consumers to ensure that all Americans have theopportunities and security that phone service brings. In 2005, Lifelinediscounts were made available to qualifying low-income consumers on pre-paidwireless service plans in addition to traditional landline service.
The people who are favor the “biggovernment” more approach welfare, because they want the government gets incharge of different issues. And most people who favor the “big government” arethe person on the welfare programs, so they rely on government for everything.However, the people who favor the “small government” do not like the governmentget so many powers. And most of them are taxpayers, not the people rely on thewelfare program. So they might think all those welfare programs are unfair forthem.
Welfare programs do moreharm than good. Welfare in this country has become more like a Band-Aid. Moretaxpayers’ money goes to the less fortunate, more government programs arecreated and those receiving the benefits get pushed out from participating inthe American Dream. Some people realize their economic situation is better onthe government dole than working towards their own success independent ofgovernment interference. The problems with welfare go deeper than just themoney spent and the increased number of people falling under its wide umbrella-it doesn’t solve the problem. It doesn’t provide jobs. It doesn’t provide alivelihood. It doesn’t give someone the economic freedom they could potentiallyreach. Welfare programs didn’t make the situation better, but worse!
政治論文范文作者：濡炲，美國留學生。
