discussion
emily12345
DISCUSSION2.docx1a. Read the following:
Busting the Myth of ‘Welfare Makes People Lazy’
1b. What’s so depressing about getting free money from the government? It sounds like a great deal, doesn't it? Does welfare help or hurt families? You must support your opinion with research.
2. “Virtually any statement about welfare is no longer universally true across the country. While welfare benefit levels have always varied tremendously, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) gave states autonomy to set eligibility rules and to determine how participants will meet federal work and time limit requirements” (Rowe & Giannaeli, 2006).
FIRST - Find the specific TANF regulations for your particular state you live in regarding each of the 4 TANF requirements (cite the state website):
(a) Income Eligibility
(b) Work Activities
(c) Time Limits
(d) Family Caps
SECOND -- What are the pros and cons of each of the 4 TANF requirements?
3. Let's play a game and see if can you live on $9 an hour -- Most Americans know the facts about low-wage work, but many have been lucky enough to avoid actually having to live on $8 or $9 an hour.
FIRST Go to:
and play the SPENT game - in the SPENT game you will begin with a choice: Would you like to be a server, a warehouse worker or a temp? From there, the choices get more difficult. Should you pay to get your pet medical care, or let the animal suffer? Should you go to the dentist or suffer yourself and save some bucks? Should you let your child and a friend get ice cream, or do you need that $5 for bills? The game is interspersed with facts about the choices people with very little money are making every day, and the consequences of those choices.
SECOND: Report on how many days you lasted playing the SPENT game and discuss how well you managed your money on a very low wag.
4a. Watch the movie Spent: Looking For Change
(a film about everyday Americans without the financial options most of us take for granted and the movement giving them renewed hope).
4.(b) What were the reasons the 4 family's from the movie fell into the money lending trap? What other alternatives do they have besides turning to this vicious debt cycle? Make sure to CITE the movie and refer to the 4 key characters in the film -
· Melissa & Alex
· Justin
· Tiffany
· Debbie
5. What suggestions would you offer policy makers in regards to "reforming" your state's TANF program or fixing the welfare system in general? You must support your opinion with research.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
. Welfare Reform: An Analysis of the Issue:
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/welfare-reform-analysis-issues/view/full_report
· TANF is Broken! It’s Time to Reform “Welfare Reform”: http://mlwiseman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/TANF-is-Broken.072515.pdf
· Informing the Welfare Debate: Perspectives on the Transformation of Social Policy http://www.irp.wisc.edu/research/welreform/national/informingwd.htm
ADDITIONAL READINGS
Payday Loans — And Endless Cycles Of Debt — Targeted By Federal Watchdog MARCH 26, 2015 http://www.npr.org/2015/03/26/395421117/payday-loans-and-endless-cycles-of-debt-targeted-by-federal-watchdog
Have you ever considered that corporations are also on the welfare dole?
The #GlobalPOV Project: "Who is Dependent on Welfare" With Ananya Roy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rtySUhuokM
Corporate Welfare - article links
http://www.progress.org/banneker/cw.html
What 7 States Discovered After Spending More Than < Million Drug Testing Welfare Recipients BY BRYCE COVERT & JOSH ISRAEL http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/02/26/3624447/tanf-drug-testing-states/
7 Common Myths About People on Welfare
November 26, 2014 by Danica Johnson
http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/11/common-myths-people-welfare/
How education changed because of welfare reform
http://www.marketplace.org/2016/07/06/wealth-poverty/how-welfare-reform-pushed-lower-tier-education
Should we be putting so much focus on training people to work, no matter the work, as long as they are "getting a job"?
