U.S. Welfare Program – A Tool To End Poverty
U.S. Welfare Program – An Overview
U.S. Welfare programs have various categories. The overall purpose of these programs is to benefit and help low income individuals and families. They are structured and developed in such a manner that all the U.S. citizens are entitled to receive benefits of the programs; the one prerequisite of these programs is that the benefits are circulated among the low income group only.
The U.S. welfare system comprises of roughly 15 different programs. Each program is different in nature and benefits the entitled U.S. citizens in a different way. Some welfare programs pay direct cash to the participants while others help by providing food or medical supplies. Each welfare program works towards achieving a set of goals and objectives. The most important one is the elimination of poverty.
Welfare Programs to Reduce Poverty in U.S.
As discussed earlier there are various welfare programs actively working in the U.S. Some of these aim at reducing poverty. Following are the welfare programs that help in reducing poverty:
- SSI and TANF – Pays cash to low income individuals.
- Earned Income Tax Credits / Negative Income Tax – distributes tax to people who don’t owe any income tax.
- Pell Grants – Grants are given to students belonging to low income households.
- SNAP, Child Nutrition and WIC – provides free or subsidized food.
- Unemployment benefits and Social Security – financial benefits for unemployed and retired citizens.
All of the above listed programs aim to provide assistances to low income individuals or households in one manner or another. The basic objective of these welfare programs is to reduce poverty ratio in the U.S.
The Results Achieved by these Welfare Programs
Welfare programs have played their part in reducing poverty. The government highly values facts and figures provided by these programs. The agencies further work towards identifying the areas in which further welfare activities need to be conducted. Every welfare program currently active in the U.S. has significantly lowered the percentage of poverty.
For example food programs have reduced the poverty rate in the U.S. by 2.6%. The social security has greatly contributed in reducing the poverty percentage of the U.S. citizens above the age of 65 by a huge 38%. Tax credit programs also helped in reducing the poverty percentage by 2.69%.
Each program is playing an important role in bringing down the poverty rates. It is expected that adding new welfare programs will further help eliminate poverty.