Regardless of what your welfare definition is, welfare abuse has always been an issue that local, state and federal governments have faced since welfare programs began. Unlike welfare capitalism programs, which are more controlled and managed by private companies and industries, welfare abuse stems from the limited number of resources available to governments to patrol the usage of welfare given out to people.
There are a few primary types of welfare abuse that program administrators have to keep on the lookout for. The first type is individuals falsifying information on applications submitted in an attempt to qualify for benefits. Obviously, the person or persons filing the application does not normally deserve some or any of the benefits they are improperly trying to obtain. For example, applying to receive an economic recovery payment when the individual is not entitled to receive.
A second type of welfare abuse to be concerned about (and is possibly much more rampant than the first type of abuse) is the improper use of welfare benefits by an individual who genuinely qualified for the benefits but then chooses to break the rules with the benefits after receiving them. This type of abuse can exhibit itself , for example, by individuals who are receiving unemployment benefits, TANF or WIC payments.
Criticisms of Fraud by Welfare Recipients
Abuse by welfare recipients has been the subject of criticism because of the additional complexities, steps and reduced funds that are available. Funds that would otherwise be available for deserving individuals must be redirected to protect the remaining funds and ensure that welfare programs are not abused. Still, others raise criticisms of the welfare programs available to people throughout the United States because of the tendency and potential to create lower income, or even middle-class, dependent recipients. An additional criticism is the too common occurrence of undeserving individuals receiving extensive welfare payments through welfare abuse and taking money that should otherwise go to deserving people.
Welfare Abuse Scope
Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine how extensive welfare abuse is throughout the United States. In one estimate, the Los Angeles Times claimed in a 2010 article that up to twenty four percent of applications for welfare in San Diego County are fraudulent. Additionally, the United States Department of Labor has provided previous estimates that show that almost two percent of all unemployment benefits applications are fraudulent. Still, these numbers are only estimates and may be much higher in certain states and programs.
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