Do welfare recipients have to work?
I started to think about this question more and more as I saw that many of the government aid programs out there base their help according to how much money the household makes and how many people live in the household, so I thought to my self "What if you have a 0 household income, then what?"
while searching for answers I came across a funny title that caught my eye it said...


http://nypost.com/2013/08/19/when-welfare-pays-better-than-work/
"When welfare pays better than work"
Although this article focuses on the city of New York only it still shows pretty jaw dropping facts..
"Here’s an offer for you: $38,004 per year, tax free.No work required.Apply at your local welfare office." 
This information is based on a household of a single mother of 2. 

"While that might not sound overly generous, remember that welfare benefits aren’t taxed, while wages are. So someone in New York would have to earn more than $21 per hour to be better off than they would be on welfare.That’s more than the average statewide entry-level salary for a teacher."
Wow!!! this is definitely surprising when you put it in this perspective, having money granted to you that is tax free definitely makes a difference. Especially when you consider the cost of having to go to work, by this I mean transportation cost and money for lunch if you dont make it at home....


"Of course, not everyone on welfare gets all seven of the benefits in our study. But, for many recipients — particularly the “long-term” dependents — welfare clearly pays substantially more than an entry-level job."
Now this makes more sense, so the amount of $38,004 a year that a single mother of 2 could receive in New York is based on that household qualifying to receive ALL of the government aids available, which not everyone can.

"To be clear: There is no evidence that people on welfare are lazy. Indeed, surveys of them consistently show their desire for a job. But they’re also not stupid. If you pay them more not to work than they can earn by working, many will choose not to work."
Im glad that this point was made, it might seem that I keep trying to find evidence that points towards showing that people on welfare are non deserving of these helps but what I am really interested in IS THE GOVERNMENT REALLY HELPING THESE PEOPLE? how can we help people progress in life if for many the government help is like a 30 year old still living under his or hers parents roof.

"If Congress and state legislatures are serious about reducing welfare dependence and rewarding work, they should consider strengthening work requirements in welfare programs, removing exemptions and narrowing the definition of work."
this makes a lot of sense to me and it made me question what were the original work requirements when welfare was reformed in 1996??
The personal responsibility and work opportunity act of 1996 was meant to increase labor market participation among those receiving government aid... So has this been done in the past years? The reason for this 1996 reform was the concern that many of those that had been receiving government help for a long period of time lacked the initiative to actually look for a job.. this seems to be the problem still even after 19 years of this reform. and it connects to what the previous article was mentioning that we should consider if some of the welfare programs especially the ones that provide cash allowances, are they really helping the people?


2015
so today where are we with the work requirements for welfare recipients?
In 2012 president Obama waived the requirement for work that the 1996 legislation passed
so you can participate in work related activities which can include just trying to find a job but not necessary applying for one, and this qualifies you for some government helps. many people that are against Presidents Obamas ruling to extend welfare support longer than the 1996 reform wanted, say that this leaved the door open for situation like a mother with a child that has a disability extending her welfare support because she hasn't found a way to take care of her child and work at the same time, another scenario is a person extending their welfare support because they need more time to learn the English language before getting a job...

its hard to pick a side on this welfare reform act and the extension of welfare support because as a human being you want people in need to be helped but you have to question some of the people that are receiving this help....

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/aug/28/rick-santorum/Santorum-Romney-claim-Obama-ending-welfare-work/
this website is where I found arguments that go againts extending the welfare support , although I find it to be biased to the republican party...