To understand the need for welfare and other government aid I asked my self some questions:

• What percentage of each race uses welfare/ government aids?
• What race group is the one that uses more welfare/ government aids?
• Is there a pattern among these percentages?

I found great statistics that are based on the US Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Commerce, CATO Institute, and the research date was January 14, 2015 which is the most recent date I have found when searching for information on this topic, a lot of the academic sources I have encountered date back around 1996 when the welfare reform took place.

http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/

Welfare Statistics
Total number of Americans on welfare	11,400,000
Total number of Americans on food stamps	41,700,000
Total number of Americans on unemployment insurance	10,200,000
Percent of the US population on welfare	4.1 %
Total government spending on welfare annually (not including food stamps or unemployment)	$131.9 billion
Welfare Demographics
Percent of recipients who are white	38.8 %
Percent of recipients who are black	39.8 %
Percent of recipients who are Hispanic	15.7 %
Percent of recipients who are Asian	2.4 %
Percent of recipients who are Other	3.3 %
Welfare Statistics
Total amount of money you can make monthly and still receive Welfare	$1000
Total Number of U.S. States where Welfare pays more than an $8 per hour job	39
Number of U.S. States where Welfare pays more than a $12 per hour job	6
Number of U.S. States where Welfare pays more than the average salary of a U.S. Teacher	8
Average Time on AFCD (Aid to Families with Dependent Children)
Time on AFDC	Percent of Recipients
Less than 7 months	19%
7 to 12 months	15.2%
1 to 2 years	19.3%
2 to 5 years	26.9%
Over 5 years	19.6%
Top 10 Hourly Wage Equivalent Welfare States in U.S.
State	Hourly Wage Equivalent
Hawaii	$17.50
Alaska	$15.48
Massachusetts	$14.66
Connecticut	$14.23
Washington, D.C.	$13.99
New York	$13.13
New Jersey	$12.55
Rhode Island	$12.55
California	$11.59
Virginia	$11.11

1. This chart and website contains really good information and it even goes as far as to providing what states provide you with more money for welfare than the minimum wage. On surprising fact for me was that there is 8 states that welfare pays more than the average salary of a teacher!!!! what is this saying? that a person who has been aspiring to be a teacher might as well do nothing and apply for welfare because she will make more money off of the government ?
2. This chart shows that the difference between black and white race percentages on welfare is only by 1%. This makes me think about all the prejudice there is against African Americans and how some people that are not well educated categorize ALL blacks as ignorant and lazy. this chart shows that white are only behind by 1% if we really want to get into the discussion that everyone on welfare is lazy and is living off of the government.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/07/12/the-politics-and-demographics-of-food-stamp-recipients/

In the website above I found statistics of people who have used food stamps when it came to dividing them into their political groups.
people who claim to be democrats are twice as likely to have used food stamps in their life time than those who are republicans.

So is seeking government aid a social class issue?
is it a race issue?
or is it a political party issue?
This cant be answered with one simple answer because with the statistics above it shows that the usage of government aid have been provided to many Americans of all difference gender and races.