The Social Welfare State

The social welfare state that existed for over 60 years in the United States, AFDC in particular, failed to lift its recipients out of poverty, or encourage them to leave poverty behind on their own. (Epstein, 1997) AFDC and other welfare entitilement programs merely eased poverty. (Epstein, 1997) They provided some financial assistance to many people temporarily, and many others for extended periods of time, but in either case they provided no real incentive to work. (Epstein, 1997) For many, lifting themselves out of poverty through hard work was incentive enough by itself. …