Social Welfare and Federal Government

Social Welfare and the Federal Government Name Institution of affiliation Date Social Welfare and the Federal Government Provision of welfare has evolved over the years to reflect the changing social dynamics. Social welfare originally was provided by communities. Each individual in the community working to ensure that other persons in the community had a minimum level of welfare. Due to trends in urbanization and industrialization, community-based welfare became untenable. Provision of social welfare shifted to local governments. This responsibility would be later taken on by the states and Federal government in the US. Social welfare is critical in ensuring that the citizenry of a nation have a basic level of social support CITATION Dia12 \l 1033 (DiNitto & Johnson, 2012). It has been indicated to be the true mark of a civilized nation, its ability to take care of its poor and needy citizens CITATION Chi15 \l 1033 (Harlan, 2015). The paper, therefore, delves into the issue of social welfare. It will attempt to gain an understanding of the social welfare policies of Presidents Reagan, Bush Sr., and Obama; and how the policies have evolved and the role played by the Federal Government. Reagan President Reagan's thinking on social welfare was largely informed by the New Deal struck under Roosevelt. The deal had been in response to the great depression. It was in part aimed at providing relief for the poor. In doing so, the deal rolled out massive social welfare programs. At the time of their roll out, the programs were essential to keeping poor citizens away from destitution. However, by the time Reagan was being sworn into office they represented government waste. The programs had encouraged dependency on government, wanton spending by government, anathema to work by a section of the population. The programs could not easily be scaled back due to the politics surrounding the emotive issue. Reagan was able to institute reforms in the social welfare policy of the US in part due to his major win in the US elections. He, therefore, believed he had the mandate to reform government from the people. Reagan instituted policy changes in social welfare programs reversing the trend of the federal government bearing the cost. Instead, social welfare cost would be borne through a public-private partnership. Local governments in conjunction with the private enterprises e.g. Insurance companies would provide e.g. healthcare. Bush Sr. President Bush policies on Social Welfare were to an ...