Welfare is a long debated topic in American history; there has always been strong support for both sides all the way back to the framing of the constitution. But the truth is that welfare as a whole is a social toxin mostly effecting the children. The simple fact is that children suffer in many ways because the U.S welfare system has failed. It was designed mostly to help children and has ended up damaging and abusing the very children it was meant to help. The system failed because the very ideas it was founded upon are flawed. The current system is based on the assumption that higher welfare benefits and expanded welfare eligibility are good for children. According to this theory welfare should reduce poverty, and increase children's lifetime well being and attainment. This however is not true. Higher welfare payments actually increase dependency and illegitimacy, which have a devastating effect on children's development.
             We are often told that the current American welfare system does not promote long-term dependence. This is another false statement. Of the 4.7 million families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) all have already spent on average over six and a half years on welfare. When past and estimated future receipts of AFDC are combined the estimated average length of stay on AFDC among those families currently receiving welfare will be 13 years. Over 90 percent of families currently receiving AFDC benefits will stay on welfare for over 2 years. And more than 75 percent will spend over 5 years on AFDC.
             Welfare is what has a negative effect on children not poverty. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director June O'Neil has done recent research that shows increasing the length of time a child spends on welfare may reduce the child's IQ by as much as 20 percent. Welfare dependency has a negative effect on young boys. Research shows it has a most negative
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