[quote=sdrealtor]There are hundreds of thousands committing welfare fraud so collectively it is an issue of the same magnitude.[/quote]
I’m also a bit taken aback by this statement… so I used the google.
I would agree that there are 10’s of thousands committing welfare fraud but I doubt it’s in the multi-hundreds of thousands.
In 2005, the government gave temporary assistance to approximately 2,000,000 needy people. In comparison, more than twice as many people (nearly 5,000,000) were granted welfare in 1995.
Source: Office of Family Assistance, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
but… the numbers have gone up as our economy has crashed… some states (including california) have seen a 10% increase, other states have seen a decline (texas). http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124562449457235503.html
According to this WSJ article – the states with the highest increase in unemployment were the states that had the bigger increases in welfare.
But that article also stated:
The number of families on welfare had been falling steadily and, nine months into the recession, stood at 1.6 million in September 2008, the most recent date for which national tallies are available
So – with less than 2 million on welfare – many of them children – since you have to have a kid to qualify… Lets be generous and say it’s half parents/half kids… So 1 million adults claiming welfare. (I assume you’re not accusing minors for fraud their parents might commit). Even if a very high percentage – like 10% – commit fraud – it’s a total of 100k.
As mentioned – the Welfare Reform act passed in 1995 and enacted in 1996 reduced the numbers dramatically.
