SW 4710 Benchmark Assignment
There are many social problems that exist within the world and it has an effect on all of us. A social problem is “Societally induced conditions that harm any segment of the population, and acts and conditions that violate the norms and values found in society (Eitzen, Zinn, & Smith, 2009, p.21). The social problem that I selected is the concern for single mothers that need financial support that are poor and living in poverty. About 42.8 percent of the female- headed families with children under age eighteen lives in poverty. Single mothers should be getting the support from the government that is needed to be enabled to get necessities that are needed for their children. Poverty is the standard of living below the minimum needed for the maintenance of adequate diet, health, and (Eitzen et al., 2009, p.216) The poverty rate for children is higher than any other age group. “There were 12.3 million poor children under the age of 18 in the United States in 2007 (Kroger and Stoesz, 2010, p. 117). There are many polices established to assist single mothers that needs financial support, which includes WIC and TANF. WIC and TANF are policies that are both dictated by the federal government.
Women Infant and Children Program, (W.I.C) is a federal state food program. The WIC Program is great for women, infants and children. There are many women who become pregnant every year that are not financially capable of eating the correct nutrients while pregnant and WIC helps them by supplying benefits. There are also women who cannot afford to give their infant the nutrients that are needed for them to grow healthy, so WIC helps those women as well. WIC also supports children and assure that they are getting the right nutrients up to the age of 5. WIC is a great program that has a huge impact upon many women, infants, and children around the nation. WIC is an awesome supplemental nutrition program that has been around for over 40 years (Oliveira, Racine, Olmsted, and Ghelfi, 2012). WIC provide supplemental nutrition, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and other services. WIC serves over a million participants each month. Almost half of all infants and about one-quarter of all children 1-4 years of age in the United States now participate (Oliveira et al., 2012) WIC accounts for almost 12 percent of total Federal spending on food and nutrition assistance (Oliveira et al., 2012) One positive thing about WIC is it serves many women, infants, and children around the nation and has improved the nutrition of women, infant, and children. One negative thing about WIC is that it only serves children up to the age of 5. WIC should at least give service to children up to the age of 12.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a joint federal-state cash assistance program for low-income families with children (Tanner and DeHaven, 2010). The TANF Program was established in 1996 and it was the reform of the AFDC Program, which was created in 1935. The impact of the TANF program has been great in the history of welfare. According to Phyllis Day (2009) TANF was a success due to the numbers off public assistance rolls (Day, 2009, p.432). The caseload declined by 53 percent from August 1996 to June 2000, which shows TANF was a good program in the past history of welfare (Day, 2009, p.432). The current impact of the TANF program has not been good due to the economic crisis. The current economic crisis has made getting the assistance from the welfare program vital and it is causing many people to not get the help needed due to the TANF being a time limited program. TANF members only have a limited time to receive aid, so there are many people, especially single mothers that are not getting help that is needed because there limit has expired. The article of the New York Times "Welfare Limits Left Poor Adrift as Recession Hit" have many examples of women struggling due to them being cut off from assistance because they are past the limit. According to the article, there are many women doing illegal things to survive since they are not receiving assistance. A quote from the article, "The revamped law encourages states to withhold aid, especially when the economy turns bad" is exactly what is happening now (New York Times, 2012). Currently "One in four low-income single mothers nationwide are jobless and without cash aid" because they cannot get the help that is needed.
References
DeParle, J. (2012, April, 7). Welfare Limits Left Poor Adrift as Recession Hit. New York Times, p. A1
Day, P.J. (2009). A New History of Social Welfare. Boston: Allyn & Bacon
Karger, H. J. and Stoesz, D. (2013). American Social Welfare: A Pluralist Approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon
Eitzen, D.S., Zinn, M.B., and Smith, K.E. (2009). Social Problems. Boston: Allyn & Bacon
Oliveira, V., Racine, E., Olmsted, J., Ghelfi, L. (2012, June, 3). The WIC Program: Background, Trends and
Issues. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fanrr-food-assistance-nutrition-
research-program/fanrr27.aspx
Tanner, M., and DeHaven, T., (2010, September). TANF and Federal Welfare. Retrieved from
http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/hhs/welfare-spending#2
Women Infant and Children Program, (W.I.C) is a federal state food program. The WIC Program is great for women, infants and children. There are many women who become pregnant every year that are not financially capable of eating the correct nutrients while pregnant and WIC helps them by supplying benefits. There are also women who cannot afford to give their infant the nutrients that are needed for them to grow healthy, so WIC helps those women as well. WIC also supports children and assure that they are getting the right nutrients up to the age of 5. WIC is a great program that has a huge impact upon many women, infants, and children around the nation. WIC is an awesome supplemental nutrition program that has been around for over 40 years (Oliveira, Racine, Olmsted, and Ghelfi, 2012). WIC provide supplemental nutrition, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and other services. WIC serves over a million participants each month. Almost half of all infants and about one-quarter of all children 1-4 years of age in the United States now participate (Oliveira et al., 2012) WIC accounts for almost 12 percent of total Federal spending on food and nutrition assistance (Oliveira et al., 2012) One positive thing about WIC is it serves many women, infants, and children around the nation and has improved the nutrition of women, infant, and children. One negative thing about WIC is that it only serves children up to the age of 5. WIC should at least give service to children up to the age of 12.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a joint federal-state cash assistance program for low-income families with children (Tanner and DeHaven, 2010). The TANF Program was established in 1996 and it was the reform of the AFDC Program, which was created in 1935. The impact of the TANF program has been great in the history of welfare. According to Phyllis Day (2009) TANF was a success due to the numbers off public assistance rolls (Day, 2009, p.432). The caseload declined by 53 percent from August 1996 to June 2000, which shows TANF was a good program in the past history of welfare (Day, 2009, p.432). The current impact of the TANF program has not been good due to the economic crisis. The current economic crisis has made getting the assistance from the welfare program vital and it is causing many people to not get the help needed due to the TANF being a time limited program. TANF members only have a limited time to receive aid, so there are many people, especially single mothers that are not getting help that is needed because there limit has expired. The article of the New York Times "Welfare Limits Left Poor Adrift as Recession Hit" have many examples of women struggling due to them being cut off from assistance because they are past the limit. According to the article, there are many women doing illegal things to survive since they are not receiving assistance. A quote from the article, "The revamped law encourages states to withhold aid, especially when the economy turns bad" is exactly what is happening now (New York Times, 2012). Currently "One in four low-income single mothers nationwide are jobless and without cash aid" because they cannot get the help that is needed.
References
DeParle, J. (2012, April, 7). Welfare Limits Left Poor Adrift as Recession Hit. New York Times, p. A1
Day, P.J. (2009). A New History of Social Welfare. Boston: Allyn & Bacon
Karger, H. J. and Stoesz, D. (2013). American Social Welfare: A Pluralist Approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon
Eitzen, D.S., Zinn, M.B., and Smith, K.E. (2009). Social Problems. Boston: Allyn & Bacon
Oliveira, V., Racine, E., Olmsted, J., Ghelfi, L. (2012, June, 3). The WIC Program: Background, Trends and
Issues. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fanrr-food-assistance-nutrition-
research-program/fanrr27.aspx
Tanner, M., and DeHaven, T., (2010, September). TANF and Federal Welfare. Retrieved from
http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/hhs/welfare-spending#2