Income Support Policies - Research Paper Example

In the United States of America, being an economically stable country, there exist different types of programmes, which aim at supporting poor families that are in need. Such programmes mainly lower the level of homelessness and protects the poor from starvation. Financial underprivilege is unpleasant and that is why the government has developed different welfare programmes. People who fit in the description of ‘needy’ in the country are always eligible and encouraged to apply for such funds.

Therefore, the various income support policies in society aim at improving the living standards of the needy in society. In the United States, there are various income support programmes, which are developed by the government to support the needy. These include the social security fund, the supplemental security income (SSI), and the temporary assistance for needy families (TANF). These are aimed to serve specific people in society, meaning that not everyone in the country qualifies for these income support programmes.

This essay focuses on the social security and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) income support policies in the United States. . On the other hand, the source of funding in social security is the social security taxes, which employees have to pay. According to the US Social Security Administration (2013), today, 161 million working Americans pay the social security taxes, while 57 million are beneficiaries of the monthly benefits of Social Security. In the U.S.A., the beneficiaries of social security are mainly the retirees.

The outcome of social security therefore, is realized when an employee retires, and when one becomes disabled. However, the family and dependents of a deceased employee will be the beneficiaries of the employee’s social security. Although social security improves one’s financial position, the US Social Security Administration (2013) warns that an employee after retirement has to supplement the financial benefits from this programme with personal savings, private pensions, and investments, among other means, since social security is not self-sustaining.

Nonetheless, social security aims at improving the lives of Americans after retirement, while most are in old age. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is an income support policy by the government, which aims at helping the needy in the country. This temporal support to poor families is in form of monthly financial assistance for the families. Eligibility is allowed for minor children, their siblings, and relatives living with them, expectant women in their final three months of pregnancy, with no other children, who are beneficiaries of this programme, and refugees, who have minor children (Department of Health and Human Services, 2011).

Apart from these, there are other financial and non-financial factors, which are