Welfare reform was a big part of the turn-around in the economy during the 1990s. Following the Crash of 2008, Congress extended unemployment benefits out to 2 years. EITC and food stamp programs were made more generous. Medicaid expanded as part of Obamacare. Illegals were qualified for welfare programs. Refugee programs became big business for welfare programs and the non-profits that are involved. It is not a mistake that dependency increased. It was policy. And, with so many moochers supplementing their earnings with welfare, companies don’t have to pay enough for people to actually live off their earnings. This all ties together. And, what is more, it all can be fixed. We only have a few months now until the election. Don’t give up on the country yet.
Either we improve our economy and trade policies and create jobs to move people off welfare programs, or it won't be fixed. And we have to have jobs for the left side of the Bell curve. We've heard the pie-in-the-sky about education and retraining for decades and that hasn't fixed it and it won't fix it.
We need jobs for all skill levels or be prepared for a bigger and bigger redistributionist central government because that's what people will vote for until it all collapses of its own weight.