Social+Policy

**This is NOT the planning area for 2012 Projects--But rather it is for you to consult for information that may or may not be credible. To work on your project click to the left on "Projects"**

Health Care, NCLB, Welfare, etc

[] income dist..

//1889 - first settlement house in U.S. was established by Jane Addams. She built community houses in the middle of poor neighborhoods where the staff would provide// guidance, recreation, and training for the poor. It was part of the Progressive movement that lasted from late 19th century to WWI. Some various forms of social welfare were enacted at this time and mostly laws were at the state level.
 * Social Policy Timeline** //(red = state power; blue = federal power)//

1909 - 16th Amendment is passed in Congress. It states, "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration." This pretty much allows for the Federal Income Tax.

1912 - The Bull Moose Progressive Party had great effect on the election, and were led by Teddy Roosevelt. Their efforts led to the ratification of the 16th Amendment in in the following year.

(1913-1916) - The sixteenth Amendment is ratified and the federa l income tax is officially set up in 1913. It started at 7% but has risen to around 30% presently. Most social policy laws passed during this time improved working conditions instead of trying to help poor or unemployed. (ex: maximum 8hr workday for railroad workers, exempt unions from punishment under Clayton Anti-trust Act, protect children from hazardous forms of child labor)

(1930-1935) - The Great Depression strikes and approximately 1/3 of Americans are out of work. Before poverty was left mainly up to churches, charities and local gov't but was shifting towards the federal government with the passage of laws under the New Deal. In 1930 Congress enacted the a disability insurance program and in 1935 FDR created the Social Security Act which created a gov't sponsored pension plan for retired Americans. There was also a welfare plan created that gave payments to children who live in poverty but not their parents. This was known as Aid to Dependent Children (AFDC). Most of these programs continued to stay in effect even after the depression was over.

1950 - Welfare payments continued to give cash payments to the poor but expanded to adults living in poverty as well as children. This was due to an amendment in the original AFDC program. The amendments included adults and some medical. State governments were in charge of applying the programs. There was a disadvantage though, people tried to stay on welfare as long as they could. (1961-1965) - Lyndon B. Johnson created the Great Society and started his War on Poverty program. In 1961, the Food Stamp program began, which gave gov't issued coupons that could be traded for food in stores to the poor. There was as food stamp program during the great depression but that program was only temporary and didn't last, this one was permanent. 1965, he created the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Medicare provided medical care for all elderly while Medicaid provided health care for poor. Each was administered by the states. Johnson's War on Poverty program consisted of employment incentives, youth programs, and projects specifically aimed at rural poverty.

1969 - Nixon started the era of New Federalism which lowered federal power and gave more to the states. Budgets decreases targeted welfare because they believe that it created a dependency on the government handouts and failed to provide skills and training for a real life.

1980 - Federal budget deficiet led to cuts in welfare programs. States began to experiment with their own systems. Wisconsin created the workfare which traded job training or community service for welfare benefits.

1996 - Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. This required people to work for benefits. A person was eligible for only 2 consecutive years of welfare and lifetime benefits were capped at 5 years. The Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (AFDC) was eliminated and replaced with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). States would receive a fixed amount of money in the form of a block grant to use for welfare benefits. This Act resulted in a 50% decrease in the number of people enrolled in welfare from 1993 to 2000.

2001 - Bush had a plan to use local religious institutions and charities to administer social welfare benefits and services. He created the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to try and return welfare to the private sector. This went against the first amendment establishment clause of separation of church and state.

2003 - Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act was signed by George W. Bush. Later amended in 2006 to create extensive subsidized prescription benefits and in 2004 to give participating seniors drug discount cards. This act was very costly to the U.S.

- mandatory 30 hour work week needed for benefits - billions of dollars given to states in block grants for welfare programs - legal immigrants could not qualify unless worked in the U.S for at least 5 years - 5 year cap on welfare benefits - welfare caseworkers would keep track of things - teen parents must live with their own parents to receive benefit
 * Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) [originally the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)]**

link to socialsecurity.gov. This site provides information on how social security was begun and social programs and benefits today. []

the above chart is about welfare spending from 1950 to 2005
 * [[image:http://www.willisms.com/archives/morebeneficiariesss.gif]] || This graph shows the number of recipients of social security over the years. ||



[] this is the AARP website that talks about social security.

[] this is a link to a website that keeps up with news articles about social policy dealing with the states

[] this is a link to a website about welfare

Who controls what


 * State:

Unemployment Worker's Compensation Medicaid Veteran's benefits Government Employee Retirement Systems Temporary Assistance for Needy Families || Federal:

Social Security Food Stamp Program* Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)* National School Lunch Program* ||
 * federal program run by states


 * War on Poverty:

1964, Lyndon B. Johnson, added food stamps and other programs to the “arsenal” of poverty fighting policies

divided liberals and conservatives || "War on Antipoverty Programs":

1981, Reagan, persuaded Congress to cut welfare benefits, lower number of Americans on welfare rolls, cut benefits for beneficiaries ||
 * Social Welfare Policies

Policies that provide benefits to individuals, either through entitlements or means testing

Many Americans equate social welfare exclusively with government money given to the poor

the government gives far more money to the non poor than to people below the poverty line 5/6 of all money for social programs goes to universally available benefit programs like Social Security and Medicare

only 17% of social spending goes to the poor ||


 * Social Security: most expensive public policy in the WORLD!! ||
 * official title of Social Security: OASDI: Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance

created in the Great Depression to get older Americans out of the work force || Social Security Act of 1935: created both the Social Security Program and a national assistance program for poor children called AFDC

AFDC: Aid to Families with Dependent Children

helped children in families with no breadwinner ||  ||

How Social Security works:
 * Now:

the government taxes workers and employers a percent of the employee's income up to a maximum contributions are paid into the Social Security Trust Fund

Social Security Trust Fund-the bank account into which Social Security contributions are deposited and used to pay out recipients

if you work, you contribute 6.2% of your wages (up to $90,000) & your employer matches it current social security

payroll taxes are 12.4%

government can only invest this money in U.S. treasury bonds

the number of contributors to Social Security is growing slowly while the number of recipients is increasing very rapidly as is the cost of living

if payouts exceed income, Congress will have to use regular appropriations to pay out social security || If Social Security was Privatized:

George W. Bush wanted to divert 2% of Social Security contributions to private retirement funds

each individual could reduce their Social Security payments and put that money into a private account, stock, bond, or other investment

they could collect their gains or deal with their losses when the time came for them to retire and collect on their benefits

OR the Social Security system could do the investing itself ||


 * ** Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act **

welfare reform in 1996 by Clinton Administration to "end Welfare as we know it"

3 main provisions 1) each state would receive a fixed amount of money to run its own welfare programs 2) people on welfare would have to find work within 2 years or lose all benefits 3) lifetime maximum of 5 years on welfare was set ||

government benefits that certain qualified individuals are entitled to by law, regardless of need
 * Entitlement Programs:

people pay into them and get money back later

federal entitlements-cost $3 billion a day and leave only 1/6 of the federal budget for everything else the federal government needs to do || Means-tested programs: government benefits that are only given to those who qualify, i.e. the poor

In-kind benefits: benefits that have the value of cash that are not actually cash, i.e. food stamps ||


 * Poverty Line:

a method used to count the number of poor people, considering what a family must spend for an "austere" standard of living

family of 3 is below the poverty line if it has an annual income of less than $15,277

15.1% (46.2 million) of Americans were below the poverty line in 2010

50.4% of all working Americans experience at least one year of poverty in their lifetimes

most of the poor work; they just have low wage jobs that keep them in poverty || Feminization of Poverty:

the increasing concentration of poverty among women, especially unmarried women and their children

female headed families run almost a 30% chance of poverty

families with 2 parent homes run less than a 6% poverty rate

having children out of wedlock is the "superhighway to poverty" ||
 * Earned Income Tax Credit: a "negative income tax" that provides income to very poor individuals in lieu of charging them federal income taxes

$20 billion a year to poor and near poor families

one child+income less than $31,030=EITC up to $2,700 ||
 * Medicare:

provides hospitalization insurance for the elderly and permits older Americans to purchase inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other medical expenses

covers 40 million people

Part A: provides hospitalization insurance and short term nursing care

Part B: voluntary: permits older Americans to purchase inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other non hospital medical expenses

Part D: provides reduced prices for drugs || Medicaid:

public assistance program designed to provide health care for poor Americans

funded by state and national government

serves 42 million people

only 42% of people below the poverty line even qualify ||