Take a few minutes and learn a little bit about Welfare....
Great read - The Other America: Poverty in the United States - It shows how the welfare programs dropped the poverty level 12%.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...lchangehomele/
Speaking of welfare programs, ever wondered what they are? Food stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Public housing, WIC, School lunch program, Medicaid, Workers compensation and... Unemployment.
The unemployed had a job, thus paid for the services they use, and hopefully will again in the future. Many are employed and use it for assistance, and yes a big block get direct payment help.... you can check the url below to see the breakdown, a little less than half is used for kids.
Welfare is 13% of the budget, with unemployment added in... so the real "welfare" % paid out is pretty damn low.
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/...et_2012_4.html
And for some reading...
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Inequality&Health.htm
The stats in are rather shocking, it's a hell of a study.
"Two recent studies, published in April in the BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL, examine all 50 states within the U.S. Each study defines a measure of income inequality and compares it to various rates of disease and other social problems. It is the gap between rich and poor, and not the average income in each state, that best predicts the death rate in each state. States with greater inequality in the distribution of income also had higher rates of unemployment, higher rates of incarceration, a higher percentage of people receiving income assistance and food stamps, and a greater percentage of people without medical insurance.
"Interestingly, states with greater inequality of income distribution also spent less per person on education, had fewer books per person in the schools, and had poorer educational performance, including worse reading skills, worse math skills, and lower rates of completion of high school."