Who benefits? Who loses?

UNIT VIII: The Social Welfare System -- Who Benefits? Who Loses? (3-4 pages)

1. Abramovitz, Mettler, and Plumer claim that "everyone is on welfare." Discuss this argument. Did it surprise you? Why do you think the public believes that only those living in poverty benefit from government spending?

2. From the “Who Benefits?” section, discuss the benefits of either wealthy individuals or large corporations, including how they benefit.

3. From the “Who Loses?” section, discuss two of the groups (voters, workers, immigrants) listed, and how they lose.

4. Indicate some ways that you or people you know (relatives or friends) have benefited and/or lost from the social welfare system. What government programs have you/they used and what difference, if any, did it make in your/their lives?

5. Identify the population served by your agency and indicate how clients benefit or lose from both your program and from government social welfare policy more generally.

Sources:

Unit VIII. WHO BENEFITS? WHO LOSES? FROM TODAY’S SOCIAL POLICIES: Popular wisdom holds that money for government programs goes only to the poor. But, in fact, the data show that these government dollars serve many non-poor individuals and organizations. This unit analyzes the social welfare system, by looking at who is and is not served by its programs. The discussion is based on the policy framework referred to as “who benefits and who loses?” The distribution of resources by social welfare programs to populations at-risk as well as to the middle class and corporations suggests that everyone is on welfare. However, the data show that some groups benefit more than others.

A. Overview: Not For the Poor Alone

Abramovitz, M. (2001). Everyone Is Still On Welfare: The Role of Redistribution in Social Policy, Social Work, 46, pp. 297-308. (ER)

Mettler, S. (2011). Our Hidden Government Benefits, The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/opinion/our-hidden-government-benefits.html

Plumer, B. (2012). Who Receives Government Benefits In Charts. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/09/18/who-receives-benefits-from-the- federal-government-in-six-charts/

Porter, E. (2012). Who Gets the Breaks and Benefits, The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/03/13/business/Who-Gets-the-Breaks-and-Benefits.html

Three Ways Making the Poor Prove They’re Worthy of Benefits is Problematic (video – 2 min.)

http://on.aol.com/video/3-ways-making-the-poor-prove-they-re-worthy-of-benefits-is-problematic-

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B. Who Benefits?

1. Poor, Working Poor & Middle Class

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (2018). Chart Book: Economic Security and Health Insurance Programs Reduce Poverty and Provide Access to Needed Care.https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/9-2-15pov.pdf

2.Wealthy Individuals

Kurtzleben, D. (2017). CHARTS: How GOP's Tax Breaks Would Shift Money To Rich, Poor Americans. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2017/11/14/562884070/charts-heres-how-gop-s-tax-breaks-would-shift-money- to-rich-poor-american

Mathews, D. (2018). How the Republican Tax Law Hurts the Poor and Helps the Rich, in One Chart.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/26/17044440/gop-tax-cut-tax-reform-law-chart- regressive-rich-poor-graph

3. Large Corporations (subsidies)

Young, A. (2016). Taxpayer-Funded Capitalism: The Biggest Corporate Subsidy Deals of 2016. http://www.salon.com/2016/12/27/taxpayer-funded-capitalism-here-are-the-biggest-corporate-subsidy- deals-of-2016/

Sinn, M. (2015). Think by the Numbers: Gov’t Spends More on Corporate Welfare Subsidies than Social Welfare Programs. https://thinkbynumbers.org/government-spending/corporate-welfare/corporate-vs-social-welfare/

Sirota, D. (2014). The Real Welfare Queens. In These Times.

http://inthesetimes.com/article/16362/the_real_welfare_queens

C. Who Loses?

1. Voting Rights

Vincins, A. (2016). Everything You Need to Know About Voter Suppression in One 5-Minute Video.

Mother Jones.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/05/north-carolina-voting-rights-discrimination-racism Edsall, T. (2018). Why Don’t We Always Vote in Our Own Self-Interest? The New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/opinion/voting-welfare-racism-republicans.html

Gumbel, A. (2017). America’s Shameful History of Voter Suppression. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/13/america-history-voter-suppression-donald-trump- election-fraud

Editors (2018). What the Supreme Court Doesn’t Get About Racism. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/opinion/supreme-court-racism-suppression.html

Roth, Z. (2017). Wave of Voter Suppression Measures Targets Latinos. MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.com/politicsnation/wave-voter-suppression-measures-targets-la

Melton, A. (2018). Voting Rights Is an LGBTQ Issue. Demos.

http://www.demos.org/blog/6/27/18/voting-rights-lgbtq-issue

Taking Action Burmila, E. (2018). How to Fight Voter Suppression in 2018. Dissent Magazine. https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/how-to-fight-voter-suppression-tactics-2018- practical-guide

2. Labor Rights Policy

Dunn, M. & W. (2016). Union Membership In The United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2016/union-membership-in-the-united-states/pdf/union-membership-in- the-united-states.pdf

Levinson, J. (2018). Supreme-Court Decision Janus-vs AFSCME Likely To Permanently-Weaken- Public-Sector Union. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/supreme-court-decision- janus-v-afscme-likely-permanently-weaken-public-ncna851376

National Employment Law Project (2015). Minimum Wage Basics: Overview of the Tipped Minimum Wage. http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Basics-Tipped-Minimum-Wage.pdf

Taking Action Rios, E. (2018). Wave of Ticked-Off Teachers Is Running for Office in Oklahoma. Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/06/a-wave-of-ticked-off-teachers-is-running-for-office-in- oklahoma/

3. Immigration Policy

Immigration Policy Center (2014). The Growth of the US Deportation Machine. http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/growth-us-deportation-machine

Immigration Policy Center. (2011). Racial Blame Game.

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/racial-blame-game/

Ewing, W. (2018). Federal Audit Outlines Lasting Impacts of Trump’s Executive Orders on Immigration. http://immigrationimpact.com/2018/07/16/federal-audit-outlines-lasting-impacts-of-trumps-executive- orders-on-immigration/

Dahlberg, V. (2018). Ice’s Military-Style Raid Leaves Immigrant Communities Terrorized. ACLU.

https://www.aclu.org/Blog/Immigrants-Rights/Deportation-And-Due-Process/Ices-Military-Style- Raid-Leaves-Immigrant

Jordan, M. (2018). Whistle-Blowers Say Detaining Migrant Families Poses High Risk of Harm. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/us/migrant-children-family-detention-doctors.html

Wang, C. (2018). In Its Zeal to Deport Immigrants, Justice Department Scraps Due Process. ACLU.

https://www.aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/deportation-and-due-process/its-zeal-deport-immigrants- justice-department

Gruberg, S. et. al. (2017). The Trump Budget Neglects Basic Protections and Funds a Deportation Force Instead. American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/news/2017/05/23/432848/trump-budget-neglects-basic-protections-funds-deportation-force-instead/

Hayes, D. (2018). Misogyny and Racism in Sessions’ Unraveling of Asylum Law. The Gender Policy Report. http://genderpolicyreport.umn.edu/misogyny-and-racism-in-sessions-unraveling-of-asylum-law/