A. Social welfare began in the 1930’s, during the Great Depression. Millions of Americans were in the poverty level and they were all very worried about how they were to survive. The Federal Government stepped in and adopted the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). This policy offered billions of dollars to the states for their needy citizens (Tani, 2012).
B. The Social Security Act of 1935 was then adopted and it offered millions of dollars every year to the states (Tani, 2012). The funds for the Social Security act were not for everyone, they were to be set aside for what they called the “unemployables” (Tani, 2012). The unemployables were the elderly, children of fatherless homes, and the blind (Tani, 2012).
C. The assistance the elderly received was called Old Age Assistance (OAA), Aid to Dependent children was (ADC), and Aid to the Blind was (AB) (Tani, 2012).
D. Many other programs have been set into place over the last few decades since there have been many changes in the economy and the needs of citizens.
II. Why social welfare began
A. ADC was created due to the amount of poor single mothers who needed aid during the Great Depression.
B. President Roosevelt stated, “We are going to make a country, in which no one is left out.” (Kennedy, 2009). He was very sure of himself that he was going to help the citizens recover from The Great Depression, which is a fabulous reason why social welfare began.
C. Another reason social welfare began was due to the government. “The government is not a solution to the problem; the government is the problem” (Reagan, 1981). Ronald Reagan stated this during his Inaugural address on January 20, 1981 (Kennedy, 2009). Could the government itself be the main reason why social welfare began?
D. One last reason why social welfare began was so low income families and minorities can someday be homeowners (Meltzer, 2012).
III. The influential people and organizations contributed to the creation of social welfare
A. President Roosevelt was one of the influential individuals who contributed to the creation of social welfare (Tani, 2012). His contribution was a policy known as “The New Deal”. President Roosevelt’s intention for the New Deal was economic recovery (Kennedy, 2009).
B. Harry Hopkins was also an individual who took part in the creation of the New Deal. He was President Roosevelt’s relief administrator who was very outspoken (Harvey, 2012). Hopkins also wanted to improve the quality work programs and increase aid levels. Hopkins’ second in command was a social worker named Aubrey Williams. Williams had a very strong administrative background and along with Hopkins, she devoted many hours of her time thinking about what kind of system could possibly replace the old one (Harvey, 2012).
C. The National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) was one that existed and helped create social welfare. This program was disbanded in the 1970’s.
D. Through time, many people have contributed to the creation of social welfare, including President Nixon and President Clinton (Beland & Wadden, 2006).
This research will state facts about social welfare; when it began, why it began, and the people/organizations who took part in creating it. This research will also explain the various programs and policies that have been set in place over the last eight and a half decades, who helped put those programs and policies in place, and why it has been a very important part of our everyday lives. The New Deal is the biggest program this research focuses on as it was a very big part of the lives of many Americans who suffered from the effects of The Great Depression.
TANI, K. M. (2012). Welfare and Rights Before the Movement: Rights as a Language of the State. Yale Law Journal, 122(2), 314-383.
(Tani, 2012)
In this article, which was published in 2012, Tani