Certain aspects of the American welfare system -- especially AFDC payments -- came under criticism in the 1980s and 1990s, and the system itself became an issue in national elections. A new law overhauled welfare by replacing AFDC with state-run assistance programs financed by federal grants (TANF- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). The law also limits lifetime welfare assistance to five years, requires most able-bodied adults to work after two years on welfare, eliminates welfare benefits for legal immigrants who have not become U.S. citizens, and limits food stamps to a period of three months unless the recipients are working. In 2008, over 50 million Americans will receive nearly $614 billion in Social Security benefits. The total cost of all federal assistance programs -- including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and various welfare programs -- accounts for nearly one-half of all money spent by the federal government. That is a doubling of the percentage that obtained in the 1960s.
Although America is a developed country ,It also has many social problems.The biggest one I think is the racial problems.America are primarily a nation of immigrants,who or whose ancestors came from many parts of the globe. Though people all share a common American culture, the nation contains many racial and ethnic subcultures with their own distinctive characteristics. These differences have contributed to racial conflicts that have been a persistent social problem to American society.Racial discriminate against occurs in nowadays. The Northern states had all outlawed slavery by 1830, but in the Southern states, it was ended by the Civil War Lincoln’s emancipation of slaves in 1863 and the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. But after the abolition of slavery, many states passed segregation laws to keep the races apart in schools, housing, restaurants and public facilities, and institutionalized discrimination kept blacks in the lowest-paid jobs.The second problem is poverty. The U.S is one of the most wealthy countries in the world. Yet over 24 million people or about 10% of the population are living at or below the official poverty line, on incomes that the federal government considers insufficient to meet basic requirement of food, clothing, and shelter. There are millions more, living slightly above the poverty line, whose plight is not much better. Also, the social services in the U.S compare unfavorably with those in most industrialized societies. Therefore, poverty in the U.S becomes a social problem.The last but not least problem is Crime. according to the reports given by the FBI, those arrested for crimes are disproportionately likely to be male, young, a member of a racial minority, and a city resident. For example, more blacks are arrested for crime than white people because a higher proportion of the black population is poor or unemployed and there are high correlations between poverty and the types of crime classified by the FBI as most serious.
Reference:<U.S.society—social welfare> 2009
<美国社会与文化>-Social Problems in the United States 2007
Although America is a developed country ,It also has many social problems.The biggest one I think is the racial problems.America are primarily a nation of immigrants,who or whose ancestors came from many parts of the globe. Though people all share a common American culture, the nation contains many racial and ethnic subcultures with their own distinctive characteristics. These differences have contributed to racial conflicts that have been a persistent social problem to American society.Racial discriminate against occurs in nowadays. The Northern states had all outlawed slavery by 1830, but in the Southern states, it was ended by the Civil War Lincoln’s emancipation of slaves in 1863 and the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. But after the abolition of slavery, many states passed segregation laws to keep the races apart in schools, housing, restaurants and public facilities, and institutionalized discrimination kept blacks in the lowest-paid jobs.The second problem is poverty. The U.S is one of the most wealthy countries in the world. Yet over 24 million people or about 10% of the population are living at or below the official poverty line, on incomes that the federal government considers insufficient to meet basic requirement of food, clothing, and shelter. There are millions more, living slightly above the poverty line, whose plight is not much better. Also, the social services in the U.S compare unfavorably with those in most industrialized societies. Therefore, poverty in the U.S becomes a social problem.The last but not least problem is Crime. according to the reports given by the FBI, those arrested for crimes are disproportionately likely to be male, young, a member of a racial minority, and a city resident. For example, more blacks are arrested for crime than white people because a higher proportion of the black population is poor or unemployed and there are high correlations between poverty and the types of crime classified by the FBI as most serious.
Reference:<U.S.society—social welfare> 2009
<美国社会与文化>-Social Problems in the United States 2007
