Petition Asks Welfare Revisions for Minimum Standard of Living

A coalition of nationwide organizations and individuals on Monday made a joint “statement of principles” calling for major revisions in the welfare system that would guarantee all Americans a minimum standard of living.

The statement, composed over a three-month period by 20 organizations and endorsed by about 70 others, said the federal government has the “primary responsibility” for fighting poverty.

The individuals joining in the call for national debate of the issue included Arthur S. Flemming, who was secretary of health, education and welfare under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.). Robert Fersh, executive director of the Food Research and Action Center, released the statement at a Capitol Hill news conference.

Minimum Income Sought

It calls on the government to “assure a minimum standard of living--sufficient food, clothing, shelter and medical care--to those in poverty.”

It said people on welfare should be helped to find jobs, and those who are working “should receive income sufficient to support a family and access to necessary health care and child care.”

The statement also called for stronger enforcement of child-support laws, urged “additional investments” in programs designed to prevent impoverishment and called for continued federal support of state and local relief programs.

Welfare reforms are needed, the statement said, because “increasing poverty . . . is cause for national concern.”

“The fact that one of every seven Americans lives below the official poverty threshold is unacceptable, especially when 40% of these persons are children,” it said.