Most Americans Support Work Requirements For Welfare (Op-Ed)

Image Credit: Welfare Law by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free.org

By Chris Talgo | The Heartland Institute via The Center Square –

One of the key sticking points in the negotiations over raising the debt ceiling centered upon work requirements for welfare.

On one side, Republicans sought to enact work requirements for able-bodied adults on Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). On the other side, Democrats and President Joe Biden adamantly opposed any and all work requirements for these programs.

Eventually, the sides agreed to a compromise, by which work requirements would be applied to those on SNAP up to age 54 years old. But, this includes many loopholes. And, due to strong Democratic opposition, work requirements will not be included for Medicaid or TANF.

It should be noted that the vast majority of Americans, 63 percent to be exact, “strongly or somewhat support requiring Medicaid or SNAP recipients to show proof of work to receive benefits.”

It also should be noted that Biden supported work requirements in 1996, stating, “The culture of welfare must be replaced with the culture of work.” That same year, then-Sen. Biden (D-DE) voted for then-President Clinton’s welfare reform bill, which included work requirements for virtually all welfare programs.

What’s more, in 1988, Biden penned an op-ed for the Newark Post, writing, “We are all too familiar with the stories of welfare mothers driving luxury cars and leading lifestyles that mirror the rich and famous. Whether they are exaggerated or not, these stories underlie a broad social concern that the welfare system has broken down – that it only parcels out welfare checks and does nothing to help the poor find productive jobs.”

I could not agree more with Biden’s assessment of work requirements back when he was in the Senate. However, for whatever reason, Biden and the Democrats have now become so opposed to work requirements that it makes me wonder if they want to create an entirely new underclass of Americans who are dependent on Big Government, instead of themselves.

As of this writing, there are approximately 10 million unfilled jobs in the United States. At the same time, more than seven million able-bodied men aged 25 to 54 years old have dropped out of the workforce; they are not even seeking a job.

In the 1950s, 98 percent of able-bodied men in their prime working years held a job. Today, it has dropped to an all-time low of 67 percent.

Throughout the 1990s, the labor force participation rate hovered above 67 percent. Today, it is barely above 62 percent. In other words, in the post-pandemic era, tens of millions of able-bodied adults in their prime working years have simply vanished from the work force.

Of course, much of this is due to the fact that during the pandemic, the federal government offered lavish benefits, stimulus checks, and all sorts of other goodies that have had the unintended consequence of keeping people dependent on the government dole without having to work in return for benefits.

However, the stripping of work requirements began long ago, when President Barack Obama single-handedly gutted work requirements for welfare.

For far too long, the federal government has made it much too easy for able-bodied adults in their prime working years to live a decent life without working, thanks to generous welfare benefits.

Yet, this is not good for the American people or the American economy.

Work brings purpose and dignity to one’s life. On the other hand, indolence breeds dependence and self-loathing.

And, given our macro-economic problems, such as the impending insolvency of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, one would assume that our political leaders, on both sides of the aisle, would be doing everything in their power to ensure that every single able-bodied American is working in order to keep these programs afloat.

I hate to say it, but the cynical side of me believes that contemporary Democrats are attempting to create a permanent voting bloc of Americans who would rather live off the government than work for a living.

If this is the case, it is a recipe for disaster. As Mitt Romney said in his 2012 campaign for president, “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them.”

Unfortunately, 11 years later, we find ourselves in an even more precarious situation.

Fortunately, there is a simple solution to this situation: work requirements for welfare.

Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland.org) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.