The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 WELFARISM GONE WILD 271ten years to find out what's reallybeen going on inside the· HumanResources Administration." Thenext day Secretary of Labor W.Willard Wirtz said that New YorkCity had the worst administrativeproblem of any antipoverty programin any city in the country.But the New York situationkept getting worse. In January,1971, a welfare mother and herfour children were assigned to theWaldorf Astoria, one of NewYork's most elegant hotels, at acost of $152.64 for two days. TheCity's welfare agency claimedwith a straight face that therewas no room elsewhere. But manyother routine practices of the Citywere almost as costly, wIth entirehotels "temporarily" filled with relieffamilies at hotel rates. Onefamily was put up at the Broadway-Centralat a cost of $390.50 aweek., Another, a welfare familyof fifteen, was put up at a Bronxmotel at a rental that would addup to $54,080 a year. 6Dependent ChildrenMuch the fastest growing reliefprogram has been Aid to Familieswith Dependent Children (AFDC).In the ten years from 1960 to 1970the number of people aided by thisprogram increased from 3,023,000to 9,500,000. Costs soared from$621 million in 1955 to $4.1 billionin 1970.The nationwide cheating on thisis probably higher than on anyother welfare program. The reasonis that a mother and her ·children,legitimate or illegitimate,become eligible for AFDC relief ifthere is no employed father present.The mothers report that thefather·has "deserted." "The factis,"according to one authority,"that in many cases the fathernever really deserts. He just staysout of sight so the.woman can geton AFDCrolls. In slum areas,everyone knows this goes on. It iswidespread in New York City."Governor Reagan reported that heknew there were 250,000 homes inCalifornia where the father hadrun out.One of the fundamental causesfor the huge and growing load ofrelief cases is that there is noadequate investigation of eligibility.The excuse offered by somewelfare workers is: "It's impossibleto do adequate eligibilitychecks. There isn't time. It's aquestion of helping people whoneed help rather than catchingpeople who need catching."Still another reason why thereis no adequate investigation ofeligibility is that Federal bureaucraticregulations discourage it.As Governor Reagan has put it:"The regulations are interpretedto mean that no caseworker canchallenge or question a welfare ap-