What would you do to reform the welfare system?

Question

It's good to help people that wants to help themselves..but not hand out to them and they don't give back.

Answer 1

make them work for it..community service is a MANDATORY REQUIREMENT..work at elections, clean up trash on highways, WHATEVER...

Answer 2

the welfare system is being abused by everyone one who is on it! I think they need to have thorough investigations on these people, as I have stood behind enough of them at Wal-Mart breaking out the EBT card to pay for steaks & shrimp! I am a newlywed myself, with my husband & I both in college thanks to student loans, and I would never stoop as low to get on welfare. There comes a point where you have to have some kind of self-pride.

If anyone responds to this question who says they are on welfare, then answer me this: How can you justify getting our taxpayers' money for your 'food', when you can obviously afford a computer with an internet connection?!?

Answer 3

I'd phase it out entirely. There already is unemployment insurance, disability, medicare etc... People on welfare should
1- try to get a job- even if it's mcDonalds
2- ask family and friends to help out if they need it
3. try asking your church for help
4. Local shelters/food banks/charities
5. THEN state assistance
By the time you get to number 5 you should be able to do number 1.
SHEESH!

Answer 4

It never ceases to amaze me about how many people think the lives of people on welfare should be scrutinized any more than say, a CEO of a large corporation, that is seeking huge tax breaks from the same government. A study has been done on cheating welfare in Canada -- this was carried out by Price Waterhouse, a reputable accounting firm. We have a so-called fraud hotline, where anybody believing a fraud is taking place can call to report it. After getting more than 27,000 calls, they found that only 1.5% of all the reports resulted in a fraud conviction ... over 20% of the reports were on people who were not even on assistance. In my own experience in working with people, some of whom were dependent on welfare, is this additional scrutiny did more to keep them from working than to help them start a job ... surveys were also done for members of the public who never been on welfare with one question: how much money do you believe people on welfare receive? 78% of those responding over-estimated the amount by at least 100% ... Another 20% over-estimated it by less than that amount, and the balance were unsure. When people were told how much people had to get by on welfare, 75% of them cited they felt an increase was needed.

In Ontario, most of the people on welfare I've worked with including families have had at least one spell of homelessness in the past year. Most living on the system have to choose between paying for shelter or paying for groceries. Their lives are also under such scrutiny that even if a family member takes them out to dinner, the approximate value of that dinner is deducted off their cheques. Because of this stress, families and individuals on the system have a very hard time finding work -- because in order to get work, you need: (a) good clothing (which many people on welfare don't have); (b) a good meal in your stomach before you go out job hunting (and many people on welfare skip a lot of meals); (c) transportation, which costs money regardless of whether you drive or take a bus; (d) a phone (which is a luxury for people on welfare ... many do not own a phone); and (e) funds for photocopying, faxing resumes and phoning prospective employers.

It is fact that 95% of people on assistance prefer jobs to welfare, but they need help to get there. First, they need a better income to live on, so they can hang on to whatever they have ... just because somebody had a set-back in mid-life or whatever does not mean they should have to lose their homes, cars and whatever else they previously worked hard for before they had to turn to the system. Second, they need individualized attention for a return to work action plan ... for some, it may be improving their literacy skills. For some, it may be daycare. For others, it may be assistance in placing them in a better paid job to keep them off welfare in the future. They found the whole concept here in Ontario of "work first", only resulted in people cycling back and forth to welfare and low-paid work ... in order to get somebody off welfare for good, the labour force in conjunction with social services needs to create longer-term and better-paid jobs that will keep people off welfare in the future.

Answer 5

provide low or no cost child care and job training with job finding assistance and put a time limit on how long benefits can be received.

Answer 6

we need to help more of them go to work

Answer 7

delete it, abolish it
charity is the responsibility of the church, not government