Origins of Welfare

In the early 1900’s welfare existed but was not as well established as it is at this point. The help that was provided by local government consisted of the following, food, fuel, and in some cases cash, depending on the status of the resident. Under the condition that residents had to work under deliberate harsh labor i.e., building roads and chopping wood. In 1909 President Theodore Roosevelt requested a conference to address the problem of impoverished single mothers, their children, regarding and the high cost of institutions. Two years later following the conference, the state of Illinois kept focused on poor single mothers creating the “Mother’s Pension”. The pension provided financial assistance for poor single mother’s to stay home and care for children instead of having to work, to avoid juvenile delinquency. Finally in 1935, even though president FDR focused more on creating jobs, he finally established a more organized, national welfare system for the first time in America. At the time the plans that were being placed, many people were still not saving for retirement. Only a few people were actually doing something to have as a backup at the time of retirement or were backed by government employers. Only about 30 states actually had a retirement plan, and still depended on local representatives. FDR finally decided to expand the welfare program, and with this he thought it would eliminate “make up jobs”, that would cost the government a lot of money. Finally on August 18, 1935, he created a national social security program for people 65 that would be provided by a small payroll tax and the employers. To this day, welfare is a very controversial subject since most people as well as representatives believe that it promotes “laziness”. This is an argument that people have been using since the conception of welfare systems, such as food-stamps and unemployment. At the beginning of the welfare phases, the national help that was provided was at times deliberately harsh so people would get motivated to work. Now a days, the government tries its hardest to make it easier for people to get help, but with its limits.