by Cynthia Harlan

Created on: April 11, 2008

Should people be dependent on welfare? No. Poverty strips a person of his pride and dignity. It is demeaning to hold your hand out and beg for food. Society's misconstrued vision of who is accepting welfare causes much pain and grief to those whose circumstances force them to accept help. Poverty often leaves a person desperate. Crime rates are often highest in the poorest places.

However, should we provide help to those in need? Yes. How would we define ourselves as a people if we did not show compassion to those in need? What would our society be like if we left the elderly, young children, the disabled and hard working people out in the cold? What would happen to our crime rate then?

Society has adopted a misguided image of just who is on welfare. They view people on welfare as lazy, worthless, out to stick it to society, baby makers. While there are some who abuse the system and others who know nothing else, many people are people like me. My husband and I had five kids while we both had good paying jobs. Our future seemed to be secure. Then the economy went south, and we could not find work. If it had not been for the assistance that we received, we would have lost our children and been left homeless. Even after, we returned to work, the job my husband had no longer existed. Our income level dropped to below the poverty line and we still needed help.

Illness, job loss, a down turn in the economy, disability all can strike each of us at any given moment. Many live today from one paycheck to another. Did you know that a family of four in the USA could qualify for food stamps if they make more than $24000 a year? This means that if you make $11.50 and hour and have a family of four you would qualify for help.

Should people be dependent on welfare? No. Should we find a better means of providing temporary assistance to those in need? Yes. We need to return dignity to those who need help. For those who are physically able, we could have a work for help program. We could redirect our government resources so that they improve our educational system, support home-based businesses, and lower the cost of living instead of providing a means to enrich special interests and foreign industries. We could offer support services like transportation and childcare for a period of time after a person becomes self-sustaining. Providing adequate health care to their children is another reason some choose to stay on welfare. If we had a universal health care system, it might encourage more people to get off the dole.

Should people be dependent on welfare? No. We need to find a way to improve our welfare system so that it encourages people to become self-sustaining if they are able. If they are not able due to age, disability, illness etc., we need to continue to support them.

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