The Pros And Cons Of Government Assistance Programs

People within government assistance programs contribute to the rising number of non-tax paying citizens, as a result, affecting the U.S. government's debt and the current economy in a negative manner. These Americans are receiving government benefits such as Women Infants and Children (WIC), food stamps and Section 8 (Rent assistance). Many Americans fail to realize what were the initial use of these programs and are continuously abusing the generosity of these programs the government makes available to them.“These social programs are intended to address a whole host of social problems, including low academic skills, poverty, sex outside marriage, out-of-wedlock births, unemployability and low wages, bad parenting, and relationship troubles

(FSP) (Milo Perkins, 2013). This was introduced as an experimental program but was then cancelled because as stated, "since the conditions that brought the program into being--unmarketable food surpluses and widespread unemployment--no longer existed." (Economic Expert) Following FSP, the Food Stamp Act of 1964 was established.(fns.usda.gov) This act was used to strengthen the agricultural economy and assist with providing low-income families with the proportional nutrition. “United States Department of Agriculture.” The Food Stamp Act was intended to give short-term support to families in need. Many people are depending on food stamps for the proper nutrition that the act was meant to supply. As stated in the article, Rise in Food Stamps Part of Growing Dependence on Washington: “Experts Robert Rector and Katherine Bradley report, in the average month in 2010, roughly one of every five households in the U.S. received food stamp benefits.” (Rector& Bradley,2011) Approximately 20% of all Americans are relying on SNAP, with the average years of dependency being eight and a half years.(Tucker 2012) The majority of the households that are receiving SNAP are the households that are also receiving some form of other government aid. This shows that not only are these citizens living off the money provided for food but in other ways as well. It is now noticeable that the

One may qualify if their child is underweight and/or has any other medical condition. One of the main reasons that WIC was created was to ensure nutrition to under privileged pregnant mothers, infants and children to improve their health that could be endanger due to their lack of the proper nutrition. The difference between WIC and SNAP is that WIC is limited to the types of food that the vouchers qualify for. WIC provides benefits for children up until the age of five.As stated by the United States Department of Agriculture, “WIC accounts for almost 12 percent of total Federal spending on food and nutrition assistance.” (The WIC Program: Background, Trends, and Issues/FANRR-27) With these statistics, one may notice that WIC counts for one tenth of the federal spending. The similarities between WIC and SNAP are that both started with the good intentions of trying to improve nutrition among low-income families. Even so, the question still reappears, “Has WIC became too widespread, and too many people rely on it?” Chapter 5 of Administration Issues in Wic, states that in 2000, about seven million people had received WIC each month. This portion of the book allowed the audience to recognize the issues that arose within the WIC process, such as the leniency on providing these services. Another service that appears to be taken advantage of is