Well here are the facts about the people on welfare.
First, of the nearly 14 million people receiving public assistance only 5 million are adults. That means that 9 million, or 64%, of those on welfare are not even of working age. But lets find out more about the 35% who can work. The vast majority of adults on welfare are women, 90%, and, contrary to racial stereotypes, the majority of recipients are white. Another interesting tidbit, it is correct that the women on welfare tend to be mothers, but there is no evidence that they are having large families in order to get more money. In fact, approximately 43% of welfare mothers have only one child and 30% have two children. Guess what, that's the same number of children that the average family has. There is simply no basis for the claim that welfare creates an incentive to have more children.1
So, now we know a bit about who is on welfare, but lets see what else we can dig up. Well, turns out that the average woman on welfare, again 90% of those on welfare are women, were legitimately employed, lost their jobs and were unemployed for four months before applying for welfare. 47% of them even had 2 or more jobs before going on welfare. And according to a study by the University of Michigan, those on welfare are more often than not use welfare to supplement the income they receive from a job. It also turns out that 19% of welfare recipients are on welfare for less than 7 months, 15% for 7 to 12 months, 19% for one to two years, and 26% in two to five years (if you haven't been counting that's 79%). And just because this is so interesting, the majority of people who receive unemployment insurance do so for only 4 months.2
And just for fun lets see how much these people are getting anyway. The average monthly payment that welfare families receive is actually on the decline, while the cost of living is increasing.3 Here are the numbers, "In 1992, the average yearly AFDC family payment was $4,572, and food stamps for a family of three averaged $2,469, for a total of $7,041. (1) In that year, the poverty level for a mother with two children was $11,186. (2) Thus, these two programs paid only 63 percent of the poverty level, and 74 percent of a minimum wage job." These people are definitely not living the high life. Another note of interest is that welfare programs only account for 1% of the federal budget, and 2 % of the state budgets.4 In fact, we spent $500 million on bailing out the Savings & Loan Industry when Bush was in office, and that was enough to fund welfare for 20 years.
In the end, the average welfare recipient is not the same person that people imagine they are. It's hard working mothers who can't make ends meet. The problem here is wages. The average hourly wage has been on the decline since the late 1970's. This of course effects the poor the most since they already make the smallest wages. On top of that, women get paid less than men on average, so their wages have seen an even steeper decline. With such a small paycheck it's no wonder that these women lose their jobs if they have children. Child care is expensive, and if you're struggling to make ends meet then there is little hope of keeping your job when you have to take of a kid. Then just imagine trying to find a new job when you have to take care of the child. The problem is not welfare, the problem is with the system that forces people into this situation.
To make real change in the welfare system we need to attack the cause. We need to make sure that every mother has access to quality affordable child care. We need to create more educational and training programs to help those on welfare to find higher paying jobs. We need to raise the minimum wage to an amount that a real family can actually live on. We need to make it easier for employees to join unions, which have proven to increase wages and better working conditions. These are simple ways to reduce the number of people dependent on welfare, and if we ever want to see a real change in this area they are necessary.
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