Welfare |

People think of welfare as a bad term. They think of people who are lazy and have a choice to work but would rather have a hand out. Everybody has difficult times. Right now people are short on money and the pay checks are not covering the bills. Welfare is an effort, especially on the part of government and institutions, to ensure that the physical, social, and financial conditions under which people live are suitable. Government welfare programs are there for people and for a purpose, to serve those who are in need of it. The current system is not working very well and leaves room for improvement but it does seem to help many families that are in need. Too many income working families are wondering when will it pay off to be a working parent and be able to have access to quality affordable childcare? When will jobs pay enough to be able to afford the basic needs of a family and when will jobs offer health insurance and benefits so that they do not have to remain on the welfare system? Welfare can assist low income families as long as they are seeking this assistance to help better improve themselves. Parents are trying to find a way to provide for their families. The jobs are not out there and when they are, the parent needs to find quality childcare that is affordable. Too many low income working families are wondering when will it pay off to be a working parent? Parents look at the situation they are in and have to figure out is it worth it to have both parents working and barely able to make it then have one parent working and the other parent caring for the children? Many times when parents are working the income that they are at is too high to have assistance. But the money that they are bringing in is not enough to be able to provide the physical, social, and financial needs of their family. As Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) became a law in 1996. (Cherry 2007) The obligations for adults receiving it had to go to work. But with this it created a demand for childcare. Parents could receive subsidies for child-care but there were barriers to overcome. The money that was there would:

· allow families to receive subsidies when participating in education and training programs or job search activities;
· use income eligibility criteria rather than criteria based on TANF receipt, requiring them to comply with a federal minimum income and/or new maximum income eligibility threshold;
· simplify eligibility determination and recertification requirements;
· use current market rate survey data to set provider reimbursement rates;
· set a ceiling on copayments;
· increase outreach and education efforts promoting subsidies; and
· use contracts rather than vouchers to pay providers. (Haugen 2008) The number of families receiving subsidies nearly doubled from 1996 to 2000, reaching 1.9 million. (Haugen 2008) There are also barriers in the choices and qualities of childcare centers and the amount of money that has to be paid to them. Parents who get assistance face difficult choices with childcare centers. The areas in which these families live are low income areas and many of the childcare centers are not adequate. Many low income families usually have one car, if they even have that so they need childcare that is in a close area so that they could walk. The parents then have less of a choice where to send their child. It may not be the childcare of choice but since parents are made to work they have to put their child there. Parents are provided with vouchers but there are terms that they have to abide by. They also have to pay about twenty-five percent of the total cost. This is so that the parent has an obligation to helping provide childcare and has to be responsible for that weekly fee. Some childcare centers raise the price so that they are getting more money. For the parents it can get expensive, especially if they have more than one child. An example of