Published
February 27, 2007
Too many in
poverty after leaving welfare
Goal should be road to
self-sufficiency.
It's been more than 10 years since President Clinton signed welfare reform into
law that, among other things, limited monthly cash payments to five years.
Since then, welfare rolls have been slashed. The monthly average number of
Iowans receiving cash welfare through Iowa's Family Investment Program has been
cut almost in half since 1993.
That likely thrills welfare critics, but this story hardly has a happy ending:
Too many Americans leaving welfare continue to rely on some form of public
assistance. The nation is still short of the goal of making the transition to
self-sufficiency complete.
The average hourly wage of Iowans leaving cash welfare in fiscal year 2006 was
$7.58. These include the people working in check-out lanes, stocking shelves,
caring for our elderly and frequently still relying on other forms of
government help.
According to a recent analysis by the Associated Press, even though the number
of families receiving cash welfare has dropped, nearly one in six people rely
on some form of public assistance. That's a larger share of people than at any
time since the government started measuring public-assistance rates about 20
years ago.
Americans are leaving welfare, but they're still in poverty, and Iowa is no
exception. A 2006 U.S. Census Bureau report found the poverty rate in Iowa had
risen to 11.1 percent - a jump of three percentage points in five years.
Many of these poor rely on the government for help.
Nearly 100,000 Iowans received food stamps in fiscal year 2006, a 13 percent
increase compared to the previous year. Nearly 20,000 Iowa children were served
each month by government child-care assistance during that time. Currently,
nearly 300,000 Iowans - more than the entire population of the city of Des
Moines - use Medicaid, the government health-care program for the poor.
According to the Iowa Policy Project, the number of Iowans covered by public
health insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, the state children's health insurance
program and the military) has grown by 17 percent over the past five years.
In short, too many Americans are too poor to provide for their needs, and this
country needs to help all Americans become self-sufficient.
That should include making health care insurance available and affordable for
everyone, investing in education and job training so Americans can earn higher
wages, creating jobs that pay a living wage and investing in child care and
preschool to get all children on track for a better future.
One in six Americans relying on some form of public assistance in a country as
wealthy and prosperous as the United States is disgraceful. This country is
supposed to be the land of opportunity. At $7.58 an hour, opportunities are
limited.
