Session 9: Historical and Current Policy Responses: Social Welfare and Tax Policies

Chapter 7 and 8 could not have gone any better with my experience last week volunteering with some people in the homeless population. In chapter 7 of John Iceland's book, Poverty in America, I got a chance to learn some of the history of social welfare and the policies that were in place since the beginning of this country. The fact that starting in the colonial times, people had the tendency to shun those that were homeless, or even just living in poverty, helps me understand why some/many people still do the same today. The problem was that many people never took into consideration that often times there are extenuating circumstances that force a person into poverty. This misconception, that people that are living in poverty because they are too lazy to work hard, is a deep-rooted misconception in the American psyche. Another behavior that is deep-rooted is that of knowing that the government has some obligation to provide a "safety net" for those living in poverty, but also feeling as though those searching for assistance will become dependent upon it and will force others to pay higher taxes to foster their "contentment" with their situation. Since many feel this way, a lot of the programs and policies set up to aid in public assistance aim to discourage dependency on such programs by giving a cut off time such as two years, and eligibility only to those willing to go out and search for jobs. This can be a good thing, and has lead to many people leaving welfare and getting jobs to support themselves and their families, but often times programs set up this way ONLY combat dependency on the programs, but not the real problem, which is poverty. What I think is being done about poverty in the United States is setting up these different welfare policies and programs, but the problem of actually POVERTY is not being addressed as well as it should be. It is great that many do not want to create a dependency on such programs, but a more efficient system has to be set up in order to combat poverty as well. Some programs are doing so, by offering training and educational programs so that those seeking help can learn more skills that will enable them to receive better, higher paying jobs, but more programs should start to take that approach. The center that I volunteered at had many different programs, and also offered education on how to use different computer applications, and resume building techniques. If there were more programs such as that one, poverty would decrease sharply.