“Welfare embodies America's fundamental bargain, providing opportunity and, in turn, demanding responsibility” (Clinton). When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed welfare into law in 1966, it was a system designed to help the common man; a support structure that would prevent financial disasters for the individual. Since then, welfare has been reformed, distorted and abused by the very people for whom it was created. Welfare has been transformed into a way of life for more than 40 million Americans through outrageous benefits and unearned wages delivered at an infinite rate. This problem not only harms the economy as a whole, but also the individuals who receive these benefits. Welfare checks have become free gifts to those in need, and with no incentive to seek employment in menial sectors when welfare benefits are far greater, many have been reduced to subtract from the system in place. This problem must be eradicated to stabilize the growing problem and put Americans back to work. To combat the problem of welfare exploitation, comprehensive reform is needed. Requiring welfare recipients to perform work-related activities on a weekly basis would enable those in need to acquire job skills while promoting a productive, self-reliant population and a healthy, sustainable economy . A widespread aspect of welfare that results in widespread exploitation. is the fact that welfare checks are distributed without any requirements other than necessity. According to the U.S. Census, these benefits exceed “$30 an hour, well above the median income of $25 an hour for a typical U.S. employee” (“U.S. Census: Welfare”). These benefits are far too great for the requirements to be virtually zero to obtain them. The full value of...... middle of paper ...... many Americans experience it. Both of these policy changes will help restore the spirit of workers, people who seek to support themselves rather than relying on free help from others. Only by restoring this spirit will people be motivated enough to pursue career opportunities and have the chance to have a better life. Welfare reform is necessary to promote a sense of responsibility towards those who are unemployed and to show them that they need a career to become a productive member of society. Coupled with individual behavior reform, social welfare programs must also be changed if this proposed reform is going to work. “Welfare programs… waste the economy, their expenditures do not match the benefits they provide… streamlining is necessary to preserve the economic sustainability of these programs” (“Social Policy”).