Policy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Policy Quick Guide: Poverty

Janice Mattie

Walden University

SOCW-6351 Social Policy Welfare and Change

Dr. Gail Augustine

6/26/2022

 

 

 

 

 

Explain how the policy is addressed at the federal, state, and local levels and the programs developed from this policy?

The Social security Act was established in 1935. The Act was created to bring better equality of life to people who were unemployed, disabled (such as being blind), elderly individuals, as well as dependent mothers and children. The Act provides for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits and enabling states to make provisions. At the federal level, the policy was designed to pay retired workers aged 65 or older a continuing income after retirement (Social Security History,2019). At the state level, the policy replaces those benefits according to an individual’s earnings over the period they worked (Joseph, 2018). The amount of individuals’ average wages that Social Security retirement benefits replace varies depending on each earning and when the benefits start. At the local level, the policy set aside benefits for disabled individuals such as being blind and unemployed.

The Economic Opportunity Act (EOE) was established in 1964. Federal legislation establishes various social programs to facilitate education, health, employment, and general welfare for impoverished Americans (Britannica,2019). The act created the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). At the federal, state, and local level, the policy provided funds for vocational training and established VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), a domestic counterpart to the Peace Corps, and Head Start, an early education program for children of low-income families (Britannica, 2019). It ensured that there were opportunities for everyone to work and earn a living.

The Personal Responsibility Act and Work Opportunity were established in 1996. It is a law that has changed the welfare system into one that requires work in exchange for time-limited assistance. The law contains vital work requirement that encourages recipients into jobs, child support enforcement, increased funding for childcare, and guaranteed medical coverage (The Personal Security and Work Opportunity Act of 1996. n.d.). It also encouraged people to be more receptive to fully functional families where both parents were present. The main program of this act was to offer more support to those families with dependent children and help them grow up normally. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Acts performed the same functions at the federal, state, and local levels (Lown, 2020). They both ensured that those children who depended on their parents from 0-17 years were fully covered and would not lack until they were fully grown up. The acts also ensured that the cash benefits had time limits since some people would want to take benefits forever. Therefore, they confirmed that the benefits were available only for specific ages for different individuals.

 

These policies have enabled members of many communities to feel safe since they are assured that the government has implemented resources to assist with their daily needs. The government has improved its efforts to protect the citizens against anything that may be stagnant to their welfare. The policies have ensured proper education, the right healthcare services, and the opportunity for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The different approaches have assured that mothers and young children are provided for since they cannot manage to work as hard as the men in society (Edin, 2018). The blind and disabled also have their needs taken care of to serve a more purposeful life despite their challenges. The unemployed and those who lost their jobs can still live better lives through the implemented Social Security act.

An opportunity for change in the social security act would be to improve the taxes on citizens and reduce some of the benefits people get. The legislators of the social security act should find better ways of increasing the total tax from people to enable it to run for a longer time and help more people in the future. Alternatively, the legislators can reduce the benefits people receive (Joseph, 2018). To do this, there needs to be proper checking of those receiving benefits and determining if they need them and if there are people who need them and are not getting them.

References

Economic Opportunity Act | United States [1964] | Britannica. (2019). In Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Economic-Opportunity-Act

‌Feldman, S., Huddy, L., Wronski, J., & Lown, P. (2020). The interplay of empathy and individualism in support of social welfare policies. Political Psychology, 41(2), 343-362.

Joseph, R. (2018). The welfare/self-sufficiency gap among single mothers through theoretical lenses. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 28(6), 731-745.

Shaefer, H. L., & Edin, K. (2018). Welfare reform and the families it left behind. Pathways, 2018(Winter), 22-27.

Social Security History. (2019). Ssa.gov. https://www.ssa.gov/history/35act.html

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. (n.d.). ASPE. https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/personal-responsibility-work-opportunity-reconciliation-act-1996

 

 

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