1935, president roosevelt signed the signed the social security act of 1935, as a result of the great depression levert. By signing this act, president roosevelt made the government responsible for the well being of its citizens. It was during this time that the programs that already existed under president roosevelt to get people out of poverty, were not actually.

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welfare, it is on just about everyone s mind, whether it is medicare or the afdc. As technology continues to increase and jobs continue to go overseas, the united states must decide what direction the welfare system should take.

As they exist today, welfare systems are an evolution of the thoughts laid out in the 19th and 20th centuries. Before the industrial revolution, the responsibility of helping the poor was mainly given to the churches or local communities. As machines took the place of workers, governments were looked upon to help the unemployed.

In 1883, otto von bismarck, the german chancellor, setup the first form of modern welfare when he enacted a sickness and maternity law. He followed up this law with a work injury law and an old age assistance law in 1884 and 1889 respectively. Today european countries such as germany, norway, and sweden have highly sophisticated welfare systems bender, 13. Welfare did not reach the united states, however, until shortly after the great depression with franklin d. This is the first time that the united states government used federal and public funds to finance the welfare needs of the people.

Today, the most expensive welfare program is aid to families with dependent children afdc. Throughout the last 60 years, the welfare system has faced many changes, including the 1988 family support act, which requires most welfare recipients to enter a job training program lacayo, 3. The other federally funded welfare programs include medicaid, food stamps and supplemental security income ssi.

Each of these programs contributes to the high cost paid by the federal government to keep the welfare state running. Medicaid, for example, provides health care to low income families with dependent children, the disabled and the poor elderly. In 1994 alone, 34 million people received some 140 billion dollars in medicaid benefits. Food stamps that are used by low income families buys food items and work just like money. In 1994, 27 million people used food stamps costing the federal government 24 billion dollars. An example of how food stamps are distributed is given by the congressional digest, a four person household with countable income below the federal poverty guidelines and specified assets of less than $20,0 qualifies for up to about $380 worth of food stamps monthly.

Finally the supplemental security income provides benefits to the elderly over 65 years of age , blind, and the permanently disabled. The service pays $446 per month to each individual as long as their income are below pre set levels by the government. Since 1974 when the program was started, the cost of running the program has grown from $4 billion to $25 billion, only 20 years later robinson, 166 168.