Means tested programs do have the capability of creating dependency amongst the citizens that do benefit from them. In a paper by Chris Bisaillon entitled “Causes and Effects of Welfare Dependency (1993), Bisaillon writes that federal and state guidelines determine a family’s standard of maintaining a decent living (Bisaillon, 1993, p.9). With this, a family’s earned wages are subtracted from their determined need level and a check is written to the family for a difference. Bisaillon writes that the beneficiaries incentive to work is then lowered because there is no “real wage over most normal hours of work”, which can also mean that a family can work less and, in turn, receive a larger welfare check from the government.
All this being said, there is an unfair stigma that is present towards those who receive welfare assistance. Not all beneficiaries are looking for handouts from the government and are only in need of such programs for a temporary period of time. In a 2004 paper, Andy Blunden wrote that “accounting fictions” were created during the 1930’s Depression that made elderly, widow, veteran, and unemployment benefits respectable because those beneficiaries were getting back what they had already invested into the system (Blunden, 2004). This made things unfair for the other beneficiaries who received what is commonly thought of as welfare because they, most likely, had just as much trouble making ends meet as the aforementioned citizens.
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I find that every situation that potential clients are going through is very unique. Some genuinely want to contribute to our society and raise our economic production while others will be looking for a free check and another reason not to find normal work. Keeping this open view will allow me to be fair in making decisions.
- Bisaillon, C. (1993). Causes and Effects of Welfare Dependency. Illinois Wesleyan University. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/
- Blunden, A. (2004). Welfare Dependency: The Need for a Historical Critique. Retrieved from http://home.mira.net/
