It is believed that any society which can afford to supply the basic needs of life to every individual of that society but does not, can be accused of imposing life-long deprivation or death to those needy individuals. The reason for the needy individual being in that situation, whether they are willing to work, or their actions while receiving support have almost no weight in their ability to acquire this welfare support (Mehr).

Currently, there is a stereotype of a "typical welfare recipient." There needs to be a balance that allows people to be on welfare or workfare for a "reasona

Mehr, J. (1995) "Human Services: Concepts and Intervention

The distinction between the "deserving" and "non-deserving" poor is as clear now as it was in the Poor Laws of the 16th and 17th centuries. The former recipients were the elderly, the disabled, the sick, single mothers and dependent children, all of whom were unable to meet their needs by participating in the labor force and, therefore, were considered worthy of receiving assistance. The latter were able-bodied adults who were often forced to do some kind of work as a condition of obtaining relief as a means of survival. Those who refused this work requirement were viewed as not really in need. Throughout our own history of public assistance, the non-deserving poor always got harsher treatment and fewer benefits than their deserving counterparts (Roin).

Welfare is a government-sponsored program that provides money, medical care, food, housing, and other benefits to people that otherwise cannot financially support themselves. Eligible welfare recipients include but are not limited to children, elders, disabled, and others who cannot support their families on their current income. Another name for welfare is public assistance. Many organizations offer public assistance such as the Salvation Army and Jerimiah's Inn (Roin).

Hardina, D. (1991)"Targeting Women For Participation in Work

The last of the four major programs is the Food Stamp Program. The Food Stamp program allows low-income households to purchase food that they could not otherwise afford. Each participating household receives a certain number of coupons called food stamps. Through welfare reform the state of Massachusetts adopted a new plan to eliminate Food Stamp fraud. Instead of food stamps being mailed, recipients receive a card that works much like a debit card. The card is swiped and the amount of food comes off the balance in the account. This saves paper and money because the state can use an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system. The federal government issues the stamps to the needy families. The number of stamps a household receives varies with the family's size, income, and expenses. Cooperating grocery stores accept the stamps like money for food purchases only. Families cannot purchase non-necessities such as alcohol and dog food with their EBT card. (Johnson, Mehr).

A.F.D.C. provides cash benefits to dependent children and the parents or the guardians taking care of them. Most families that qualify for A.F.D.C. have just one parent in the home. Traditionally the one parent home also has a lower income level. Women head approximately eighty percent of the families that receive A.F.D.C. benefits. A.F.D.C. also pays benefits to two-parent families if both parents are unemployed. A.F.D.C. is similar to Medicaid by the fact that most of the aid for the government with little or no support from individual states. The amount that a family receives in benefits varies due to the number of people and the amount of income that a family has (Johnson).

Workfare creates the assumption that unemployment is caused by a personal choice or lack of work ethic. However, due to the fact that we have well over one million people in Canada actively looking for work, this is a ridiculous assumption (Johnson).

"The resources required to support the needy are taken by means of taxation from the earnings of the working public." This generates an obligation to work. Therefore, if an individual does not make the sacrifice of their time and energy to contribute their earnings to this fund, they are not entitled to acquire any part of it when in need unless a justifiable reason such as, disability is present for the ind

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Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)