“We have a welfare system that's trapping people in poverty and effectively paying people not to work,”House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). Speaker Ryan continues to perpetuate the myth of the “welfare queen,” the lazy, mostly likely black or brown woman, popping out babies and gobbling up our hard earned tax dollars. Nothing could be farther from the truth. That is not to say that there are no lazy people collecting means tested benefits. But the poor do not have a monopoly on lazy people. Poverty in the U.S. is a complex phenomenon that has been orchestrated by a variety of policies that segregated large masses of immigrants as well as black and brown people and limited their access to opportunities that might otherwise help lift them out of poverty, such as quality schools, well-paying jobs, affordable housing and blatant discrimination. But the greatest determinant has to do with where you live. If you are born and raised in a high poverty area, you are more likely to remain in poverty, than not. So, contrary to Speaker Ryan’s demagoguery, welfare is not a permanent prison, but more of a temporary safety net to help low income people endure difficult periods of their lives. Moreover, the average participant, almost 40%, is a child.
Former presidential candidate, Mit Romney stated that 47% of Americans paid no federal income tax, implying a parasitic lifestyle, sucking away again, at our hard earned tax dollars. But he never mentioned that three quarters of those individuals simply benefited from tax provisions that benefit senior citizens and low-income working families with children.
Only 21.3 percent of the U.S. population participates in government assistance programs on any given month. Over 90% of these benefits go to the elderly, disabled or working class families. Another key fact that those, scheming to cut taxes to benefit the wealthy, won’t tell you is that for many participants, it’s a temporary visit.
According to the U.S. Census:
• Of people enrolled in Medicaid, 35.6 percent participated between one and 12 months and 35.3 percent participated between 37 and 48 months.
• At 38.6 percent, the largest share of SNAP (Food Stamps) recipients participated between 37 and 48 months.
• At 49.4 percent, the largest share of people receiving housing assistance benefits participated between 37 and 48 months.
• Of people enrolled in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, 35.6 percent participated between one and 12 months, while 38.2 percent participated between 37 and 48 months.
• At 62.9 percent, the largest share of people participating in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participated between one and 12 months.
Cutting these vital programs won’t solve the poverty. Rather, it will deepen the struggle of the disabled and elderly. Moreover, if working class people don’t receive that extra help when they need it the most, they may be more likely to end up in poverty, with fewer options to help them escape it.
