Poll Finds Most Believe Welfare Aid Is Needed

Most Americans have a dim view of the government’s main welfare program but many believe welfare recipients do need help and could not survive without financial support, a poll released Monday showed.

The Public Agenda Foundation, which conducted a unique study of Americans’ views about social welfare policy, said that, “no matter how the question is posed,” the public has a negative reaction to Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the government’s largest cash assistance program serving needy families. Only 35% regard AFDC as “working well.”

Sixty-four percent said too many people on welfare cheat and 74% said the current welfare system actually perpetuates poverty.

Advocate Help for Most

But 51% said most welfare recipients do need help and could not get along without welfare. Thirty-two percent said most recipients could get along without help and 17% were uncertain.

The study also found that Americans support programs that require healthy welfare recipients to work or that help those who are unable to work, and regard health care as a basic right, not a form of welfare.

Foundation President Daniel Yankelovich said the study, paid for by the Ford Foundation, is unique because 545 people in five cities were polled after they attended three-hour sessions that taught basic facts about each of six reform proposals, arguments for and against them and the costs of each idea.

“So the answers . . . amount to considerably more than top-of-the-head reactions,” said Yankelovich, who said the foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education organization.

Key findings of the study:

--Sixty-two percent favored requiring work or training for welfare recipients, agreeing that they will provide incentive for economic independence. Twenty percent disagreed and 18% were uncertain.

Agree to Tax Increase

--Forty-five percent would agree to a tax increase of $25 a year or more to change the AFDC program by adding a mandatory job search, training and work requirement. But only 3% agreed to a tax increase of $120 a year for this purpose, the estimated cost for an average taxpayer of implementing this proposal.