Comprehensive Analysis of American Social Policies

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of American social policies, examining the evolution of the welfare system from pre-1935 charity-based programs to the centralized system established by the Social Security Act of 1935. It explores various contributory and non-contributory programs, including Medicare, Social Security, and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, while also addressing criticisms and debates surrounding the welfare system, such as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996. The essay further delves into the challenges faced by Social Security and Medicare due to demographic shifts and rising costs, as well as the government's attempts to address these issues. It also discusses education policies, including the Pells Grant and the No Child Left Behind Act, and healthcare initiatives like the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), highlighting their impact on different segments of the population. Finally, the essay examines housing policies, including the Wagner-Steagall National Housing Act of 1937, and identifies the beneficiaries of these social policies, such as the elderly, middle and upper classes, working poor, non-working poor, and minorities, women, and children.

Running head: SOCIAL POLICIES
SOCIAL POLICIES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIAL POLICIES
Table of Contents
Answer 1....................................................................................................................................2
Answer 2....................................................................................................................................2
Answer 3....................................................................................................................................2
Answer 4....................................................................................................................................3
Answer 5....................................................................................................................................3
Answer 6....................................................................................................................................4
Answer 7....................................................................................................................................4
Answer 8....................................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................6

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Answer 1
The American society has always been sensitive to the poverty issues in the country
and the citizens have always contributed to the welfare of the poor. The welfare system
before 1935 was mostly private as the people contributed in the form of charity to churches
and other social welfare organizations. It was after the Social Security Act was passed in
1935 that the system became centralized and a pan American program. With time, a number
of programs emerged for the welfare of the society (Ringen, 2017). The contributory
programs, which were funded by the money, collected as taxes included Medicare and social
security schemes. The noncontributory programs were the ones where the beneficiaries did
not have to pay in lieu of the services like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.
Answer 2
There has been a constant opposition to the welfare society in America as majority of
the Americans feel that the benefits to be given to poverty-stricken are being enjoyed by
people who choose to be intentionally poor. The Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Act in 1996 changed the laws from lifetime benefits to providing support for two
years at a time and lifetime benefits of five years (Hayden 2015). The shift in the policy
allowed the stated to formulate their own slabs regarding the benefits to be given. It also
restricted legal immigrants from getting the benefits and stated new work requirements for
the benefits. The consecutive governments set the benefits to be 64% noncash and 36% cash
benefits reducing the cash load. I think this system is ideal for the people as it supports them
while providing welfare opportunities for growth and sustenance.

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Answer 3
The Social security program is under a threat due to the constantly increasing
population and the increase in the population over the decades. Given to the present scenario
of growing population and the increasing cost of the Medicare and health facilities it is
forecasted to run in deficit from 1934. Similarly, the Medicare facilities face a threat of
running short of funds to run continuous operations given to shortage of funds and the
increasing costs (Street and Desai 2016). To decease the impending shortfall of cash in the
social security schemes the government proposed to cut social security benefits, which was
strictly criticized. The supporters emphasize on increasing the tax on the wealthy to reduce
problems. Analyzing the current scenario of the social security and the Medicare there is a
cause of concern that the country may face serious economic crunch to fulfill these welfare
facilities.
Answer 4
America has been a nation priding itself on its education system and the governments
since the 1970s have been devising programs for providing unbiased education in the society.
The growing financial burden due to the increase in the fees structure of the educations has
been a major barrier to the federal government program. The Pells grant which initially paid
for the whole college fees of four years now only funds 61% of the total fees. The No Child
Left Behind law in 2001 sought to improve the educational conditions for the students of
grades three to eight focusing on constant test to evaluate them (Lahaye and Jenkins 2015).
The parents also have the right to move their child to a better from a failing school. These
policies are greatly criticized as academic administration failure as most of the failing schools
serve the needy and impoverished students.

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Answer 5
The Affordable Care Act ensured the health benefits to all the Americans. The health
services are an important factor of discussion in a welfare society. The nonelderly are to be
covered by their company for health insurance, seniors by the Medicare and the poor
population by the Medicaid. The health insurance provided by the employers proves to be
inadequate to meet the demands of the growing healthcare costs in the industry. The
government too faces difficulties in devising effective strategies in meeting the requirements
of the present healthcare needs of the society (Smith and Medalia 2014). The government
seeks to provide reimbursement on the prescription medicine aided by state governments.
This move faced a strict criticism from the people as it was friendlier towards the medicine
companies than the people.
Answer 6
The Obamacare was a strategy devised by Obama to improve the healthcare facilities
in the country, which told the citizens to buy health care insurance from the state. The people
who would not buy the health insurance would be penalized and the small businesses could
buy Medicaid for its employees (Center et al. 2017). This was done to ensure equal and
proper health facilities throughout the country. The facility is criticized as it increases the
burden of the taxes on the young and the middle class do not get proper healthcare facilities
from this service. The poor and the impoverished are the only ones who benefit from
Obamacare
Answer 7
The housing policy in America first started as Wagner-Steagall National Housing Act
of 1937 to improve the condition of people living in overcrowded conditions. The availability
of a low rental house is great problem in the USA further enhances by 2008 recession (Lund

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2017). The housing boom caused a large number of citizens to take home loans, which they
could not afford to repay leading to financial crisis.
Answer 8
The different beneficiaries of the social policies are:
 The Elderly: They benefit the most from the social security schemes and the Medicare
provided by the Government.
 Middle and Upper Classes: They do not benefit directly from the schemes for the poor
but they benefit from the pension and the social security plans, which relieve them
from the burden of extra expenses.
 Working Poor: They benefit through some schemes such as ACA, EITC and SNAP
but their working conditions do not allow them to afford proper housing facilities.
 Non-Working Poor: The only nonworking poor adults who get complete aid are the
people caring for the children. Able-bodied non-working adults are only entitled to
food stamps.
 Minorities, Women and Children: Though they hardly get any aid from the
government except the women with dependent children, the minorities remain to be
poor because of lower pay than an average American (Berliner 2013).

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References
Berliner, D., 2013. Effects of inequality and poverty vs. teachers and schooling on America’s
youth. Teachers College Record, 115(12), pp.1-26.
Center, H., Woods, C.A., Urbana-Champaign, I.L., Manchikanti, L. and Purdue Pharma, L.P.,
2017. A Critical Analysis of Obamacare: Affordable Care or Insurance for Many and
Coverage for Few?. Pain physician, 20, pp.111-138.
Hayden, E.K., 2015. Adjudicating welfare reform in the United States: A study of the impact
of the personal responsibility and work opportunity reconciliation act (1996) on welfare
rights litigation. Northeastern University.
Lahaye, T. and Jenkins, J.B., 2015. No Child Left Behind. In American Political Fictions (pp.
49-78). Palgrave Macmillan US.
Lund, B., 2017. Understanding housing policy. Policy Press.
Ringen, S., 2017. The possibility of politics: A study in the political economy of the welfare
state. Routledge.
Smith, J.C. and Medalia, C., 2014. Health insurance coverage in the United States: 2013.
Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration,
Bureau of the Census.
Street, D. and Desai, S., 2016. The US Old Age Welfare State: Social Security, Supplemental
Security Income, Medicare, Medicaid. Gerontology: Changes, Challenges, and Solutions, 1,
pp.83-110.