Welfare System Research Paper

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Breanna Shultz Mr. Karwatsky Freshman Seminar, Per. 1 23 October 2014 The Welfare System The United States is one of the many countries that has a welfare system. This program is both beneficial and a disadvantage. Some people abuse the welfare system simply because they do not want to work. If a person applies for welfare, he/she should be anonymously tested for drugs and alcohol. Welfare generally refers to government programs that provide needy people with money, medical care, food, housing, and other necessities (Garfinkle). There are many different types of welfare programs. A common welfare program in Pennsylvania is known as SSI. This is a program that supplies people who are disabled to work. Food stamps are also a well-known …show more content…

One way people abuse the welfare system is by participating in illegal drugs and consuming alcohol. If a person has the money to buy drugs and alcohol, then why do they need our tax dollars too? Why should the people be responsible for feeding someone else’s addiction? Most related studies show that one-third of welfare recipients use illegal drugs (Rector). If the government would anonymously give welfare recipients a drug and alcohol test once a month, then the amount of people who abuse the welfare system would dramatically decrease. If the person who is anonymously tested monthly fails his/her drug or alcohol test, then he/she should immediately be cut from their benefits and should be charged with governmental fraud and with illegal drug charges as well. By doing this, the people wouldn’t have to pay as much money to the government, there would be less drug abuse in the system, and there would also be a very large drop in the amount of welfare abuse in the …show more content…

In Los Angeles during the years of 2004 and 2005 there were 60,634 reports of welfare abuse. The government has conducted investigations on some of these reports and has found that 10,789 of the cases that they investigated were really abusing the welfare system. Surveys also show more than fifty-eight million people receive Medicaid. According to the statistics taken in 2011, there have been 10,685 cases that resulted in fraud investigations (Rhode). Today, the level of fraud investigations is a lot larger due to the difficulty to get jobs. People are having harder times getting a job so they apply for government assistance when they really don’t need