Welfare

VII. Read the text and name the category of people requiring state support.

VI. Supply the most suitable verb from the chart below to complete the sentence.

1. All developed nations … a variety of social welfare programs.

2. Governments establish welfare systems … a so-called safety net to prevent people from suffering the effects of poverty.

3. Long-term economic changes … social support systems, which in turn has increased the need for social welfare programs.

4. Fundamental changes in the global economy also … welfare needs.

to provide have weakened create maintain

Welfare includes programs aimed at helping people unable to support themselves fully or earn a living. Welfare recipients include elderly people, people with mental or physical disabilities, and those needing help to support dependent children. People in the United States most commonly use the term welfare to refer to government-funded programs that provide economic support, goods, and services to unemployed or underemployed people. Professionals in the field of public policy and social work use the term social welfare in a broader sense to describe any program, either privately or publicly funded, that helps people to function more fully in society.

All developed nations maintain a variety of social welfare programs. Countries offer many such programs as rights of citizenship. Governments establish welfare systems to provide a so-called safety net to prevent people from suffering the effects of poverty. However, many people believe that welfare encourages its recipients to become dependent on government support and remain unemployed. As a result, welfare programs have always aroused heated public debate.

In any society, not all people are able to work. Societies recognize that the very young and old have limited capacities to perform work, as do people with severe mental or physical disabilities. In some cases, there are not enough employment opportunities for everyone who is capable and interested in working. Welfare is a means by which societies help support these segments of the population.

In a free-market economy, such as that of the United States and most other nations, a certain percentage of capable, working-age adults will always be unemployed. Unemployment rates vary regionally and from season to season, as technology and desirable job skills change, and as workforces grow or diminish. Unemployment rates also vary considerably from country to country. For example, in late 2002, the unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in Japan and 8.8 percent in France.

Long-term economic changes have also weakened social support systems, which in turn has increased the need for social welfare programs. Into the 19th century, many people lived in large extended families that worked together for generations on family farms. The size of the family—which could include grandparents, cousins, and other relatives—and its stability were important for farm production. During the 19th and 20th centuries, countries around the world shifted from primarily agrarian (farming) to primarily industrial economies. In the late 20th century, some of these nations shifted again and became primarily postindustrial (service- and information-based) economies.

Wherever these shifts occurred, the tradition of people living in large families began to disappear. Many people began living in smaller families, consisting of only married couples and their children. Industrial and postindustrial jobs—in factories, retail stores, and offices—often depend on flexible and mobile workers. Since most of these jobs are away from the home, people must seek work and take it where it is offered. They may have to commute long distances from home to work, and they may have to relocate with certain jobs. Most people in developed countries today have completely separate family and work lives. Small, flexible families are better suited to these kinds of work patterns. Small families do not, however, provide the kind of social support that extended families do. In addition, many countries have a growing number of single-parent households—which provide even less support than do typical nuclear families—and increasing numbers of people living alone.

Fundamental changes in the global economy also create welfare needs. In the second half of the 20th century, capital, expertise, and trade moved across national boundaries with increasing ease, creating both opportunities and risks. Businesses began moving low-skill jobs to countries that could provide cheap labor. They also created many new, higher-skill jobs, such as those in technological and scientific research and computer programming. These changes have affected both developed and developing nations. They often require that people move, learn new skills, or dramatically alter their living arrangements for work. Such shifts leave people in situations where they may need a safety net.

VIII. Correct the following statements:

1. Welfare recipients include only people with mental or physical disabilities.

2. People in the United States most commonly use the term welfare to refer to privately -funded programs that provide economic support, goods, and services to unemployed or underemployed people.

3. Long-term economic changes have also strengthened social support systems, which in turn has increased the need for social welfare programs.

4. In the modern society there is a tendency to live in large extended families.

5. The need for social welfare programs has increased long-term economic changes and has weakened social support systems.

IX. Answer the following questions:

1. Who do welfare recipients include?

2. What is meant by the term ‘social welfare’?

3. Why do governments establish welfare systems?

4. Why have welfare programs aroused heated public debate lately?

5. How have long-term economic changes affected the structure of the family?

6. What problems have these changes caused?

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