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For decades, the damaging consequences of our national social service policies – which have taken already vulnerable populations and forced them into a devastating cycle of long-term dependence – have mounted. Many Americans remain captive to our misaligned social systems, ones that establish detrimental patterns that are impossible to unilaterally break.
Certainly, there was an enormous need for social and economic programs after the Great Depression. President Roosevelt’s New Deal provided relief for the poor and unemployed, greatly aided economic recovery, and established reforms to prevent another depression.
But some of these programs ignited and fueled a devastating cycle of generational poverty.
When poverty goes generational – meaning a family has lived in poverty for at least two generations – it becomes about far more than how much money they have in the bank. Every single day that someone has no job, for example, they experience a tremendous loss of hope and self-esteem, along with increased stress and depression.
In fact, poverty can literally shrink the brain. One study, led by neuroscientists from Columbia University and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, found that children in households earning less than $25,000 per year had, on average, a brain surface area 6 percent smaller than those from families earning more than $150,000. The study also discovered that children in the poorest households not only had lower scores on tests measuring cognitive skills (i.e., reading and memory ability), there were significant differences in the actual structure of the brain, particularly in areas of the brain that handle language and decision-making skills. Take a minute to really think about what that means.
To add insult to injury, the tone often used in any conversation having to do with inequality and vulnerable Americans is incredibly paternalistic and condescending. And often hateful.
Undoubtedly, there are those on all income levels who engage in self-destructive behavior, and it’s important these individuals recognize and take responsibility for their actions. However, when speaking of those trapped in the lower brackets, there is plenty of blame to go around as the sins of the past haunt us. We can scream personal responsibility until we are blue in the face, but our government ensured long ago that many bound by its social policies have no idea how to even remotely begin to claw their way out – or even what that really means.
We must start doing this differently, beginning right now. Out of everything the Democratic and Republican parties have gotten terribly wrong, vulnerable American families are the number one tragedy. As our leaders in Washington increasingly shift their focus to poisonous politics, our most imperative systems – everything from health care to education to those that help lower-income Americans – have slipped further into total chaos.
We honestly can’t decide which is worse: Democrats who act like they give a damn but fail to appropriately act or Republicans who don’t even pretend to give a damn. Both of these parties have proven to be consistently inept at confronting these challenges.
As we search for solutions, we all need to understand that chronic inequality is not something that those trapped in its relentless grip can work – or even at times educate – themselves out without a helping hand.... and it is highly insulting to act like they can or even should. In truth, the only way to close these persistent gaps is to enact policies that actively work to counteract the original ones.
The number one goal of our social agenda should be to level the playing field by creating fair and equitable opportunities that move people from any sort of dependency to self-sufficiency as quickly as possible. Notice we said move people from, not yank the rug out from under their feet. There must be an appropriate transition for those trapped in vulnerable circumstances, or it will just make the problem significantly worse.
1787 has seven policy initiatives that address our social challenges. These programs encourage work and increase opportunity. But best of all, they are empowering, far-reaching, enduring, and, above all, truly transformational.
Our national social service policies must be designed to work together to make the biggest impact. The main reason we constantly fall short of finding solutions is that we always approach our challenges compartmentally instead of comprehensively.... as if these challenges exist in isolation from one another. That is just not going to work. Because there are so many problems to solve, the only plausible answer is to be boldly strategic in our attack.
The bottom line is that America will never be a country that abandons people in need – and thank God for that. Therefore, we need to design smart programs that make sense because we’re spending the money anyway.
In 2023, the United States spent $1.6 trillion on means-tested social-welfare spending, including Medicaid, food stamps, refundable tax credits, Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, federal housing subsidies, and many other programs that help Americans below a certain income level.
This equals 72.6 percent of our unobligated general revenue, which is the federal government’s revenue minus Medicare, Social Security, payroll taxes, premiums, and interest on the public debt.
In fact, social welfare payments have risen 780 percent since President LBJ launched his War on Poverty in 1964 (adjusted for inflation, average payments increased from $7,352 to $64,700 in households that have the lowest 20 percent of incomes). This is over nine times more than the amount that earned incomes increased.