MaCurdy, T., & Jones, J. (2010). Welfare.

Retrieved October 10, 2014,

from Library of Economics and Liberty website:
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Welfare.html
The authors Thomas MaCurdy and Jeffrey Jones demonstrate that
welfare was unlikely to have been able to form from scratch, they
clarify that in order for welfare to have been able to form many
sub-organizations were involve in aiding the welfare program such
as "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families" (TANF), the "Food
Stamp Program" (FSP), "Supplemental Security Income" (SSI),
"Medicaid", "Housing Assistance", and the "Earned income Tax
Credit" (EITC). The authors explain how, despite Welfare being
funded by the 6 organizations (listed above), the federal
government is actually the primary funding since all of those 6
organizations are funded by the federal government. The main
organizations being funded are TANF and Medicaid, which annually
use 25% to 50% of the federal funds. The authors also illustrate
that there are smaller sub-programs that the government offers
which include "Special Supplemental Food Program for Women,
Infants, and Children" (WIC), "General Assistance" (GA), school
based food programs, and "Low Income Home Energy Assistance
Program" (LIHEAP) which despite having many participants also
help with Welfare support.
Schoeni, R., & Blank, R. (2000). What has Welfare Reform Accomplished?
[Research]. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from The National Bureau of
Economics website: http://www.nber.org/papers/w7627
This website displays the research by two research professors at
the University of Michigan on the effects of welfare since 1977
up until the year 2000. This research paper explains welfare
reform efforts and how requirements to qualify have changed over
the years after each reform. This research paper does an
excellent job in explaining the new reform qualifications but, it
neglects to mention any reforms before 1996. The studies also
show the effects of welfare on people with different
circumstances; such as single parents or low income families
before, during, and after having governmental aid. This study
only shows their work efforts and income but no other form of
change, such as personal behavior or the structure within
families. The research also shows the changes in economic well
being (earnings, income and poverty), and changes in family
composition (marital status and household structure) due to the
welfare reform of 1996 but no other previous reform.
Tanner, M. (2003). The Poverty of Welfare. Washington DC, MD: CATO
Institution.
In the book "The Poverty of Welfare", the author Michael Tanner,
whose works have been published on many national level news
organizations, separates the different categories by chapter. In
the first chapter titled "The end of Welfare as we know it"
Tanner discusses all the flaws that the welfare program has since
it began. In the second chapter Welfare before 1996" Tanner
explains welfare: when it began, how it began, why it began, and
who the main people who helped originate the program. In chapters
3 "The need for Reform" and 4 "The Results of Reform" Tanner
speaks about how the reform of 1996 changed and affected the
welfare program by decreasing poverty which increased the amount
spent on the program. Tanner also illustrates with accurate
graphs showing the year and amount spent, and the year and people
living in poverty. In chapter 5 "Welfare: End it, Don't Mend it"
Tanner explains the many reasons that there were changes was to
try and help Americans get off of the welfare program and live a
self sustaining life. Despite all those efforts, many Americans
continue to live on welfare. The author goes into further detail
on all the organizations who attempted to make changes to the
welfare qualifications but to no avail. In chapters 6 "The
Dangers of Government-Funded Charity" and 7 " Getting out of
Poverty" Tanner explains the dangers of welfare, in that once
beginning to receive welfare aid it is difficult to be self
sustainable and what the government is doing to try to reconcile
this issue. In the final chapter "The Poverty of Welfare" Tanner
explains that even though the government has spent much on the
welfare program there are plenty Americans continuing to live in
poverty.

Sessions, J. (2011). United States Senate Budget Committee [Fact
sheet]. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from United States Senate website:
http://www.budget.senate.gov/republican/public/index.cfm/files/serve/?
File_id=34919307-6286-47ab-b114-2fd5bcedfeb5
This fact sheet was written by the United States senator of
Alabama, Jeff Sessions, and was posted on a government website.
This article is considered more credible because it was posted on
a government website rather than a run of the mill website. The
senator, Jeff Sessions, informs us of the average amount of money
spent annually for the eighty-three different welfare programs
(which he later lists) and compares the cost to other programs
such as Medicare, Social Security, and National Defense. Sessions
gives a great amount of information because he first lists the
organization then the annual budget for that certain
organization. He also continues to explain how it is the largest
item in the federal budget. Senator Sessions also mentions the
different factors that have been causing the growth in the
federal welfare spending and states how much the spending has
grown since 2001. Despite this happening, the United States
budget is expanding to accommodate the amounts of participants in
the welfare program.

The Lewin Group, & The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.
(2004, July). Spending on Social Welfare Programs in Rich and Poor
States [Report]. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from Office of the
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluating website:
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/social-welfare-spending04/index.htm
This government report explains how each state is financially and
economically affected by the welfare program. The report mainly
focuses on welfares affects on the richer states versus the
poorer states as well as how some states need the welfare program
more than others. The report then informs us on how the worsening
condition of the economy are causing the welfare program to
become costlier but, the taxes used to fund the program are
decreasing which is causing the economy to worsen further. Though
this research paper is accurate and does mention all of the
organizations involved with the welfare program and correcting
the economy, it doesn't have any numbers to verify its statements
such as the budget or dates. In the policy it begins to display
years and budgets for most organizations but not of the ones
involved, only the well known ones.

US Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of
Commerce, CATO Institute. (2014, July 8). Welfare Statistics
[Research]. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from Statistics Brain website:
http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/
This website lists all the programs involved in the welfare
organization and displays amounts of information in the form of a
table. In the first section of the table it shows both the
percentage and exact amount of Americans receiving welfare, food
stamps, and the annual cost of the welfare program. The second
portion of the table labeled demographics, lists the different
ethnicities and the percentages of their involvement. This part
was only able to list four different ethnicities before listing
the rest as other instead of being more detailed and listing them
all. The third portion lists the hierarchy of the states
according to their contributions to the program but not the
amounts paid. The fourth portion of the table displays the
average amount of time people are dependent on welfare aid before
they become self dependent. In the last portion of the table it
lists the top 10 states that pay the most on their welfare
program. However, that being said, the table does not list all
the states particularly the 10 states that pay the least.

Edelman, P. (2012, July 28). Poverty in America: Why can't we end it?
Retrieved October 10, 2014, from New York Times website:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/opinion/sunday/why-cant-we-end-
poverty-in-america.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
In this news article the author, Peter Edelman, discusses what
year the United States had the least amount of poverty and its
inability to keep it there. Despite it being at its lowest level,
there is still a large quantity of the American people that are
poor. Edelman then lists all the organizations that help the
American people to prevent falling into poverty as well as help
them out of it. After which, Edelman then lists the four main
reasons why there are still people who live in poverty and depend
on welfare. The author then states the average amount Americans
make annually and why it makes it difficult to maintain families
especially for a single parent. The author goes on to provide
statistics on the percentage of families, along with demographics
such as gender, age, and race of people that require federal aid
and receive welfare.