“Because social welfare programs are keeping the poor anchored to the government teat.”
It all comes down to bad choices. Girls of 13 are having out of wedlock babies with older teens and young adults. These young girls are not mature enough to raise the child. The burden of childrearing almost certainly means they will not get an education providing them even the rudimentary reading, writing, and math skills required for low skill work.
Many young boys and girls who choose not to fall into the pregnancy trap fall into the racial trap and buy into the hip hop urban culture theme that excelling in school is “white”. As a result they fail to apply themselves in school and end up without the rudimentary skills required to prosper in the workplace.
Without even rudimentary skills, the potential of obtaining more than an extremely low paying low skill job is zero. Dependence on government then becomes either a conscious choice or the default choice. Without skills there is no social mobility.
I don’t disagree, but where does a preteen learn HOW to make intelligent choices?
From their parents ,siblings and peers. Unfortunately their parents siblings and peers don’t know how to make intelligent choices. If they did they wouldn’t be where they are.
The children of parents on welfare generally are living amongst other children of welfare parents.
Nearly all of their childhood experiences are going to be centered in a culture of dependency (of all kinds).
They have little chance of learning good life skills because their role models do not have good life skills.
Their only chance is a government program such as was forced on Clinton that put a time limit on government aid. A forced weaning off of welfare is the only likely exit for the welfare dependant.