by thenewgreen

What do you think of the Welfare system in the US? Does it work? Have you been a recipient of it? If so, did it work for you? Do you know examples of fraud? Do you know examples of it not working?

Here is a bit from Wikipedia about the welfare system in the US:

Social programs in the United States are welfare subsidies designed to aid the needs of the U.S. population. Proposals for federal programs began with Theodore Roosevelt's New Nationalism and expanded with Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom, Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, John F. Kennedy's New Frontier, and Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society.

The programs vary in eligibility requirements and are provided by various organizations on a federal, state, local and private level. They help to provide food, shelter, education, healthcare and money to U.S. citizens through primary and secondary education, subsidies of college education, unemployment disability insurance, subsidies for eligible low-wage workers, subsidies for housing, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, pensions for eligible persons and health insurance programs that cover public employees. The Social Security system is the largest and most prominent social aid program.[1][2] Medicare is another prominent program.

Not including Social Security and Medicare, Congress allocated almost $717 billion in Federal funds in 2010 plus $210 billion was allocated in state funds ($927 billion total) for means tested welfare programs in the United States—later (after 2010) expenditures are unknown but higher.[3] As of 2011, the public social spending-to-GDP ratio in the United States was below the OECD average.[4] Roughly half of this welfare assistance, or $462 billion went to families with children, most of which are headed by single parents. [5]

Total Social Security and Medicare expenditures in 2013 were $1.3 trillion, 8.4% of the $16.3 trillion GNP (2013) and 37% of the total Federal expenditure budget of $3.684 trillion.[6][7]

In addition to government expenditures private welfare spending in the United States is thought to be about 10% of the U.S. GDP or another $1.6 trillion.

What are your thoughts? A shout-out to the following people as I have either had conversations in the past about this with you or I think you'd provide insight to this discussion: theadvancedapes, b_b, hootsbox, fr33lunch, cgod, mk, minimum_wage, ghostoffuffle, kleinbl00, wasoxygen, humanodon and lil as well as anyone else.

Do you think that the welfare system helps people get back on their feet in the US or does it mire them in a perpetual cycle of dependance? Or, perhaps it does both and it's impossible not to do one without the other...?