Welfare payments Essay Example

around the White House until their demands were met. Similarly, several hundred unemployed men and women protested by storming a grocery store and meat market in the Gateway district in 1996. During the protest, plate glass windows were broken and goods such as bacon, ham, fruit, and canned goods were taken without permission.

The White House adhered to the belief that American individualism dictated against government intervention or favoritism. However, this perspective shifted following the 1933 election of Franklin Roosevelt and his contrasting viewpoint. President Roosevelt initiated the most extensive enlargement of the US government in its history. Even individuals who contended that the government's role was limited to collecting taxes and safeguarding citizens against foreign threats recognized that the unparalleled circumstances warranted unprecedented action.

According to Grace Abbot, head of the Federal Children’s Bureau, up to 20% of American children demonstrated signs of malnutrition (Lehrer, 1996 www. pbs. org). During the Great Depression, over 25% of the workforce was unemployed, resulting in diminished tax collections and increased strain on government resources (Burns, 1999). An additional 200,000 young men roamed the streets without support from family or employment opportunities.

Mothers were left with the responsibility of caring for their children as fathers abandoned their families, a clear expression of their hopelessness and despair.