Should People on Welfare Be Forced to Work? With commonalities of abuse and complacency, welfare has been a topic of frustration for decades. Over the years, millions of Americans have received government assistance such as Medicaid, housing benefits, food stamps and even telephone services. Rather than setting forth the effort of self support, many of these individuals abuse the system and feel as though tax payers should contribute or “foot” their bills. While there are some circumstances where welfare is absolutely vital, there have been many issues of people taking advantage of the system. Many welfare reform programs have been set in place however a change that last has yet to come, no change with the continuance of taxpayers being swindled of their hard earned money. Where is the line drawn, at what point is a complete stand taken in forcing these dependent individuals to work? Originating in the 1930s During the Great Depression, welfare was designed to assist with massive job lost to the citizens of that time. With this plan being in place for decades, it unfortunately hasn’t had any sort of reformation or major changes put in place causing citizens to abuse the system. There are 2 categories of welfare, social and economic. Social welfare services are services that are put in place to help citizens to better function while economic welfare solely focuses on the money aspect of things. Many may argue that welfare programs are set forth to help those in need due to reasons beyond their control such as disabilities or old age, however I do feel that able bodied citizens simply aren’t putting forth enough effort to rise above some of the circumstances that would cause a need for financial assistance. Growing up in a single parent home, my mother raised two children without any type of assistance, whether it was housing assistance, food assistance, etc.