Welfare began in the 1930's during the Great Depression. Right now, we have 11,400,000 people or 4.1% of our population on welfare and 41,700,000 on food stamps that averages out to a benefit for food at $133.85 a month in 2014. The total government spending is $131.9 billion not including food stamps or unemployment. Florida's participation rate in food stamps (SNAP) is 16.1%.
In Lake Worth, the percentage of persons below poverty level for the years 2009-2013 was 32.3%. So, nearly 1/3rd of our population is poor and many of these people are struggling to keep their homes, living on fixed incomes or not earning a good living. Those not in their own homes are paying high rents just to have a roof over their heads and must find roommates to help.
The mayor is right when she says that we need jobs in Lake Worth. However, we have changed to a service-based economy, not only here but nationally. Scott Maxwell and Pam Triolo have been looking for government grants or tax dollars for the POC. The Park of Commerce is on track to be developed but it will never generate 5,000 jobs as the mayor claims nor is it worth pouring in $11 million plus dollars to attract these businesses that will never be able to repay the infrastructure costs in what they pay in ad-valorem--not in 100 years. The grant(s) (some of which could be matching dollars) would be coming from tax dollars out of Lake Worth. The city has already heard the voice of the people on taxing them for this undeveloped land but who knows what will happen if they do NOT get the grant(s) as they postponed the last workshop.
Many of those jobs that businesses would create would end once construction was finished and these people would move to other construction jobs in other places. When this country allowed outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, it led to a high percentage of joblessness across the country and with it a loss of skills and inability to find jobs. This, along with the recession that caused the loss of construction jobs, are the main drivers of poverty.
U.S. News and World Report said that the U.S. economy added only 126,000 jobs in the month of March, making it the worst month for employment gains since December 2013. Revisions also knocked off nearly 70,000 jobs originally reported in the months of January and February. One positive according to Zillow is that the median home value in Lake Worth is $112,500. Lake Worth home values have gone up 15.6% over the past year and they predict they will rise 3.7% within the next year.
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