Fraudia: You really get my juices flowing with that one. Welfare in the US, particularly before the reforms of the last decade, institutionalized poverty in this country by providing incentives for NOT being productive and/or responsible.
An unwed, unemployed mother of three could actually receive MORE money from the government than she would if she married the father of her children. If the mother went to work, even part-time, her welfare benefits would be reduced by an amount that was greater than the amount of money that would be earned at the job. Thus, if she did nothing but sit on her butt at home all day, she might get $1,500 a month from welfare. If she worked 20 hours a week, her wages PLUS welfare might be $1,400 a month. If she wanted to get more than $1,500 per month, all she needed to do was have another kid out of wedlock. (Understand these numbers are just for example purposes).
The long and short of it is that if individuals made decisions based on economic benefit alone, the following would be rational decisions for a great many people:
- It was better to be an unemployed, unwed mother than to be a fully or partially employed married woman;
- It was better to have more children out of wedlock than less.
It certainly is no secret that poverty and welfare were and are particularly acute in the black community. The black vote is essential for the Democratic party to compete for majority status in our political system. The welfare system as it developed in the US was a product of Democratic party pandering to the black leaders and voters. The Dems have only two ideas to sell and two cards to play: Race and Class. It didn’t matter whether the welfare system actually worked to improve the lives of the poor, particularly poor blacks. What mattered was the Democrats could appear as their champion by taking money from the “rich whites” and giving it to the poor blacks.