42% of all babies born in the US in 2023 were paid for by Medicaid. That is way too many people not prepared for children or adult responsibilities.
For people that are not disabled, welfare, Medicaid and all other benefits should be a low interest loan with reasonable pay back terms. This should also be the format for student loans. It is illogical to give so many resources to one irresponsible/struggling group of young people but then force another group of irresponsible/struggling young people to pay high interest rates for the resources they need. They should both be accomplished with government loans with low interest rates and no interest at all for the first 5 years so people can make some progress instead of instantly drowning in interest. The interest rate should increase to market after 10 years. Additionally, such loans could also be available to help people relocate for jobs.
Welfare needs to be set up as a safety net and not a lifestyle. Too many young people have made it their goal to get into “the system” as their plan for life. There shouldn’t be housing in the form of apartment. We should have dorms where there are services and classes on site to help people get the life skills they need to be successful. This should be a temporary living space designed to encourage people to strive for better. (You can’t give a person a nice apartment for free and expect them to work hard just so they can go out and pay for an apartment.) Welfare benefits should come with requirements for education, job training, basic skills, financial literacy and should be drug and alcohol-free (especially since there are usually children involved). Too many people are raising children while they haven’t managed to master the basic life skills. This is what is creating a vicious cycle.