Few people would argue with the federal government assisting the elderly and children who cannot help themselves. But those who can work and won’t? That’s another story.
Nearly 90 percent of Americans believe able-bodied adults who receive welfare assistance should be required to work or be trained to prepare for work.
Now, nearly a decade after President Barack Obama allowed states to roll back such mandates in the midst of the Great Recession, states are again beginning to require those eligible workers without dependents to go back to work or take strides toward doing so.
When the former president made it easier for non-disabled adults to receive benefits as part of his 2009 stimulus package, millions who could work decided not to. They may have previously worked or not worked. They may have worked but felt the work they could get was beneath their training and pay. They may have worked but could only find part-time work and chose not to take it. So they never went back.
Labor force participation for men hit an all-time low. It was what skewed the employment numbers during the Obama years. Those not seeking work were not included in the unemployment statistics. As a result, food stamp recipients grew from roughly 28 million in 2008 to 47.6 million in 2013 but have not fallen significantly despite the country nearing what is claimed to be “full employment.”