Reflection ch. 8

"In the interests of reducing the welfare rolls, the government enacted massive reforms in 1996. As a result, financial assistance to the poor is no longer a federal entitlement".

With welfare no longer being on the shoulders of the federal government it has put all the weight on the state government. Eligibility for welfare is now only good for two years of receiving benefits, with a five year lifetime limit. The reasoning behind this is to have mandatory work requirements for adults, so they can teach their children to have a good work ethic. When I think of people on welfare the first thing the comes to mind is lazy people that have no incentive to go out and get a job to pay for the things they need to survive in life. Although this may sound harsh and narrow minded this is what I have witnessed growing up in a town with people that are on the welfare system. I completely understand that some people just cant have a job for a certain period of time, however when that period of time starts to grow to over five years I think they are just taking advantage of the system. With people that use the system like it is their job its what puts the bad name on welfare, and is the reason why people assume they are just lazy.

Growing up for the first half of my life my mother was single and shortly fell into the single mother problem of juggling too many things at one time. We were on welfare for almost a year but my mother wouldnt just accept that she needed its services, and was ashamed that she had to use food stamps every week. She did just what the book stated, and what the government wanted to happen with the new welfare plan. She showed me a good work ethic and to never give up on life because it will get better. After we were off welfare life only got better, and still gets better every day. Although I can sit here today and say that a lot of people on welfare are using the system, I can say that there are a few people that use it properly to get them back on their feet.