Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 27, 1993 TAG: 9305270196
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Fifty-five babies are born daily to teen-age mothers in Virginia, many of whom end up on welfare like their parents, he said.
The state spends millions annually to care for the teen-age mothers and their children and to provide related social services, Beyer said.
"We need to find a way to help people wait on pregnancy until they can support the children," he said. `Welfare should not be a permanent" way of life, he said.
Beyer spoke at the annual luncheon of the Fifth District Employment and Training Consortium at the Tanglewood Holiday Inn in Roanoke.
He said the state needs to reform its welfare system to discourage teen-age pregnancy and make fathers more responsible for the cost of raising their children.
"Every child deserves to have the financial and emotional support of two parents," he said.
Despite the business growth and new jobs that were created in the 1980s, Beyer said, the number of people living below the poverty line in Virginia did not decrease.
In 1980, there were 620,000 people in poverty, and the number in 1990 was virtually the same.
Beyer, who was chairman of the state Commission to Stimulate Personal Incentives to Overcome Poverty, said a pilot program has been developed to persuade businesses to hire a limited number of people on welfare.
The businesses are being asked to pay wages above the poverty level to see if the welfare recipients can make the transition to become financially self-sufficient.
The businesses also are being requested to provide health insurance and other benefits, Beyer said.
by CNB