How Do Government Assistance Programs Affect Society

In America we thrive on the idea of "The American Dream". To win this dream one must find a job and pay his or her dues to society, such as taxes and social security. The point of state tax is to support the state that one lives in by paying for new roads and other constructions. The point of social security is to work hard for a large portion of life and put away sums of money for retirement. America no longer knows how to gain this dream. In our society, we have 91 million Americans out of a job and its only getting worse (National Review). What do these jobless Americans turn to? They turn to government assistance programs. Government Assistance Programs are detrimental to our society. Ninety-six percent of Americans rely on some form

We are raising welfare dependent generations that have no skill or drive to achieve a better life than their parents. Many millennials, persons who reached adult hood in the early 2000’s, are fine with passing on the debt to someone else and soaking up what assistance they can.
Thesis The fact that our government offers assistance is a privilege, especially to those who need help staying afloat, but these programs may also be our nation’s downfall. Government Assistance programs are negative to this society because a number of families do not contribute to the programs they are using, families are able to live off of welfare alone, and most welfare programs discourage Americans from leaving the assistance.
A In many cases Americans are bombarded with the idea of “freeloaders”. On the first of the month, many refuse to go shopping because of the influx of individuals with assistance cards. We as a society are molded to believe that welfare is for the struggling single mother and the hardworking immigrant. In some cases this may be true, but not in all of them. A statistic put out by the Cato institute states that thirty-seven percent of working age Americans are

While yes, the idea of every poverty ridden family soaking up thousands of dollars a month is obnoxious, there is still some truth to the claim. A study conducted by the Cato institute showed that families who collected welfare in New Hampshire receive what is equivalent to $19.11 an hour and a non-collector would need to earn $40,000 a year to make just as much. Remember though that the $19.11 does not have taxes taken out so a non-collector would have to make more than $40,000 a year to keep up. Though Terry Smith, Director of the state’s Division of Family Assistance, said that the study is not “structurally sound” meaning it is impossible to conclude who receives what from each program. Though that’s not entirely true, yes, it is difficult, but it can be done. Each program is designated to a certain life element, meaning food stamps only pay for food and Medicaid only goes to medical, leaving mortgage, gas and other miscellaneous items off the table. This means that those who are unemployed are getting the money from somewhere else. Smith, in attempt to help his case, mentioned that persons on TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, are “required to be involved in work-related activities for at least 30 Hours a week” and any person that is not taking part in this requirement is cut off in 10 weeks (“A Nation of Takers”). What