The Spreading Dole

In Washington, they call it the "welfare syndrome." Largely because of the work of groups like the National Welfare Rights Organization, which now has chapters in all 50 states, the poor no longer feel that any stigma is attached to applying for welfare. Tens of thousands of persons who were once too timid or too ashamed to go on the dole are now rapping on the doors of their local welfare offices and demanding the payments they consider to be their right. Coupled with liberalized requirements and high unemployment, this has resulted, according to Department of Health, Education and Welfare figures, in a swelling of the welfare rolls to 12.7 million, a staggering 22% increase over last year.

Hardest hit have been states that in the past have been stingiest in dispensing relief payments. Texas, which last year raised its constitutional limit on welfare spending, experienced a 67% rise in the number of recipients last year; Indiana's welfare rolls grew 53%. New York, on the other hand, experienced a relatively small 12.4% increase in the same period, since its welfare program has long been one of the more generous in the U.S.

At all levels of government, the welfare explosion has led to budgetary crises. The U.S. Government finances 52% of all welfare payments, and has budgeted $8.7 billion for fiscal 1971. Federal officials now expect that they will have to spend an additional $1 billion, while state and local governments may have to spend another $1 billion more than anticipated.

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