Work out of Poverty (2/27/02)
by Dean Hartwell
Recently, President
Bush proposed increase work requirements for those receiving welfare. By the
year 2007, seventy percent of welfare recipients in each state would have to
work 40 hours per week, up from the current requirement of fifty percent of
recipients and 30 hours per week.
Bush's plan amounts to a call for a sacrifice, an idea favored in my book, Truth
Matters. The best way to solve problems, such as poverty and a lack of
independence among the poor, is for our leadership to ask the public to give
what they can toward those solutions.
Research has shown that stiffer work requirements, which became law in 1996,
have reduced the number of people in the United States receiving welfare by
fifty-six percent. Even with the current recession, those who actively seek
work will not have their benefits cut, according to a provision of the
President's plan.
Two groups of people will likely suffer the most under the proposal: single
parents and convicted felons. For the former, Bush should give more money to
the states to provide money for babysitters and for job searches that allow
people to work at home. As to the latter, the right of employers to consider
the security of the company hampers the ability of the government to help.
In order to solve poverty, we should help individuals to find a way to become
independent. In the long-term, recent history shows that Bush's approach will
help.