# Welfare programs in the US **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238 "2017-05-22T21:57:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/21 "2017-05-23T17:29:46Z")
1. Too much abuse. Even if the overall cost increases we should pay the price to guarantee compliance with the rules. Of course there will be some people who fall through the cracks but we tolerate too much abuse. IMO it’s largely because the same people who object to providing any assistance object to the cost of enforcement and compliance along with those who think that what we are doing now is economical and won’t spend any more to solve the problem instead of just putting a band-aid on it and kicking it down the road. 2. Money for nothing should be for the extreme cases. Someone totally disabled should have a decent life without being forced to provide any return. That’s a much smaller number of people than those who fit somewhere in between helpless and not sufficiently productive. Find something for people to do in return for the aid they receive even if it’s of minimal benefit to everyone else. We’re trying to prevent the social ills caused by leaving people such people unassisted but creating different social ills when we expect nothing in return from those are capable of doing so. Even if we have to pay to provide work for people, even work which is not needed, everybody should be doing what they are capable of in return for the benefits they receive. 3. Lack of jobs. I don’t know the percentage but there’s a significant number of people who would work if they could. It’s not everyone, but it’s enough that we need to create jobs somehow. If we can’t do it through the market then we have to pay businesses to hire people so they aren’t simply idle. I know it’s not easy, not going to work out as well it needs to, but we don’t take serious steps along those lines to get even minor improvements. 4. Fixing the social issues that underlie the need for much assistance. Again, not a cure-all, and extremely difficult to do without creating more problems than we solve, but we do need to find a way to end cycles of poverty that lead to more social problems. We centralize poverty, creating slums and propagating crime and disease. If people want to lead impoverished lives that’s fine if they aren’t committing crimes and aren’t raising uneducated children. It sounds horrible, but it’s part of separating out those who deserve our help and those who don’t. If we create the means for people to support themselves honestly, if we take children away from grossly irresponsible parents, and we provide a place for those tiny few who would rather live a meager life without harming others than those who insist on taking from others to live can starve for all I care. Yet I also doubt our ability to pursue such an approach without great injustice because as a society we’d rather let the problems grow as a result of simplistic solutions instead of performing the hard work needed to end the cycle. That last line above may be the biggest problem we face for even the less difficult circumstances, we keep opting for the simplest solutions, free money, turning a blind eye, and blaming someone else for the problem we created in the first place. Maybe if we didn’t do that across the board there’d be less need to deal with the harshest realities. Just thinking about that makes me want to turn a blind eye as well. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/22 "2017-05-23T18:04:53Z")
I too have met quite a few people using it fraudulently. I also have one person in my family receiving it that legitimately needs it (bi-polar-schizoid type disorder). Then I have met people that actually qualify for it, but are completely able to work and just skirt on by in the ‘grey’ area of it all. I technically qualify for it due to having a severe Panic Disorder that can be debilitating, but I refuse to. There is someone else who needs it more than myself, I’m not going to to take advantage of that because I have what in essence is an “Anxiety Disorder” because I honestly believe if I am able to work, I will. What really astounds me is the level of things that qualify as “Disability”. SNAP is one thing but in Chicago, these Illinois LINK cards are a ridiculous thing that need more oversight and verification. I’ve been confronted with people trying to sell me their cards countless times, and they are obviously on some heavy drugs. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/23 "2017-05-23T18:08:17Z")
> [@anomalous1](#): > > I too have met quite a few people using it fraudulently. . Where did you get your medical degree and how long did you examine each person and their records? ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/24 "2017-05-23T18:17:38Z")
When someone tells you they are scamming it, no medical degree is necessary. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/25 "2017-05-23T18:27:15Z")
Please keep in mind that many disabilities are invisible. Just anecdotal, but I know two people who on superficial observation appear to be completely able. What the casual observer doesn’t see is that on average three days a week the person is almost unable to get out of bed, let alone leave the house. Get a part time job? Not possible. You don’t know which days the person would be available. No employer wants a worker who on any given day may or may not show up. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/26 "2017-05-23T18:34:43Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > :dubious: > > Where did you get your medical degree and how long did you examine each person and their records?:rolleyes: One doesn’t need a degree to witness someone working. That said, you typical can earn some small income on SSDI, which some people forget. And of course some folks are open about their scammy ways. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/27 "2017-05-23T19:00:12Z")
As others have intimated, many people collect disability fraudulently and then have some side hustle of unreported income (pay no taxes on that) add those two together, and you can afford quite a bit, especially if you throw in snap and section 8 housing. There’s a reason that the Social Security Disability division has over 10,000 employees. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/28 "2017-05-23T19:06:04Z")
Here’s a good article from NPR from a few years back on the rise of disability claims in the US. > **[Unfit for Work: The startling rise of disability in America](https://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/)** > > In the past three decades, the number of Americans who are on disability has skyrocketed. The rise has come even as medical advances have allowed many more people to remain on the job and new laws have banned workplace discrimination against the... ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/29 "2017-05-23T19:08:53Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > There’s a reason that the Social Security Disability division has over 10,000 employees. The number of beneficiaries collecting SS Disability has doubled since 1990. The population has only gone up 30 percent since then. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/30 "2017-05-23T19:12:22Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > The number of beneficiaries collecting SS Disability has doubled since 1990. The population has only gone up 30 percent since then. We’re getting older and also better able to diagnose disabilities. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/31 "2017-05-23T19:21:22Z")
So, like, did any of y’all bother to report those bragging on gaming the system? You gotta cell phone, right? It takes photos, records sound, curates on line conversations etc. If not, why not? Aren’t YOU shirking a civic responsibility? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/32 "2017-05-23T19:29:07Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > The number of beneficiaries collecting SS Disability has doubled since 1990. The population has only gone up 30 percent since then. > [@DrDeth](#): > > We’re getting older and also better able to diagnose disabilities. There are numerous factors influencing the increase in disability coverage. Clinton’s welfare reform in the 90’s worked toward putting the responsibility of many short term welfare costs to the states. As a result many states hire consultants to go through their welfare rolls and find people that potentially could qualify as disabled and transition them to the disability rolls, because their costs comes from the Federal budget, not the state budget. In some states, consultants are paid as much as $2,300 per individual they get transferred. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/33 "2017-05-23T19:45:01Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Please keep in mind that many disabilities are invisible. Just anecdotal, but I know two people who on superficial observation appear to be completely able. What the casual observer doesn’t see is that on average three days a week the person is almost unable to get out of bed, let alone leave the house. Get a part time job? Not possible. You don’t know which days the person would be available. No employer wants a worker who on any given day may or may not show up. This. Just because you saw someone working in their garden on a Tuesday in April doesn’t mean they are physically capable of working at a job Monday through Friday 50 weeks a year. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ecks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ecks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ecks)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/34 "2017-05-23T19:53:53Z")
> **[Disabled, or just desperate? Rural Americans turn to disability as jobs dry up](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/local/2017/03/30/disabled-or-just-desperate/?utm_term=.700c79e6ad22)** > > In rural Alabama, a man faced a difficult choice: Keep looking for work, or apply for disability? Washington post article on the increase in disability in rural areas becoming a stealth welfare program. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/35 "2017-05-23T19:57:56Z")
All these anonymous stories about people that are smart enough to game the system for a long time yet dumb enough to blab about it to everyone around them don’t impress me, especially since the OP asked for what one can get if you _aren’t_ gaming the system. Let’s say that I was a single adult male that can’t find a job, and unemployment has run out. Can I survive with government assistance? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/36 "2017-05-23T19:58:57Z")
What state are you in? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/37 "2017-05-23T19:59:10Z")
It’s also possible for someone who’s 100% able-bodied to legitimately be receiving disability, based on past health issues. For instance, as I understand it, if you’re a veteran and come down with a cancer that’s deemed to be service-related, that qualifies you for 100% disability for life from the VA, even if you later beat the cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/38 "2017-05-23T20:00:14Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > What state are you in? Oregon, but if you are from elsewhere please tell me how/if I could survive where you are. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/39 "2017-05-23T20:03:42Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > We’re getting older and also better able to diagnose disabilities. Or, we’re inventing more “disabilities” that didn’t exist 25 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238/40 "2017-05-23T20:10:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Let’s say that I was a single adult male that can’t find a job, and unemployment has run out. Can I survive with government assistance? No chance. Single adult males are eligible for very few of these programs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welfare-programs-in-the-us/787238.md?page=3)