Blame welfare, ignore poverty and inequality / Joel F. Handler, Yeheskel Hasenfeld.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Handler, Joel F., author.

Hasenfeld, Yeheskel, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public welfare--United States.

Public welfare.

Poor families.

Government policy.

Low-income single mothers.

Welfare recipients--Government policy.

Welfare recipients.

United States.

Family policy--United States.

Family policy.

Welfare recipients--Government policy--United States.

Low-income single mothers--Government policy--United States.

Poor families--Government policy--United States.

Poverty--United States.

Poverty.

Equality--United States.

Equality.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 401 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Other Title:

Blame Welfare, Ignore Poverty & Inequality

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

System Details:

text file

PDF

Summary:

With the passage of the 1996 welfare reform, not only welfare, but poverty and inequality have disappeared from the political discourse. The decline in the welfare rolls has been hailed as a success. This book challenges that assumption. It argues that while many single mothers left welfare, they have joined the working poor, and fail to make a decent living. The book examines the persistent demonization of poor single-mother families; the impact of the low-wage market on perpetuating poverty and inequality; and the role of the welfare bureaucracy in defining deserving and undeserving poor. It argues that the emphasis on family values - marriage promotion, sex education and abstinence - is misguided and diverts attention from the economic hardships low-income families face. The book proposes an alternative approach to reducing poverty and inequality that centers on a children's allowance as basic income support coupled with jobs and universal child care.

Contents:

1. Introduction

The argument

The plan of the book

2. The state of poverty : TANF recipients

The myth and reality of poverty in America

Measuring poverty

Experiencing poverty

The risk of poverty and poverty spells

Who are the poor?

The working poor

Poverty, race, and ethnicity

Poverty, gender, and single parenthood

Child poverty

Why is poverty persistently high?

Welfare recipients

Historical trends

Welfare use

Characteristics of families

Race/ethnicity

Education level

Welfare and work

Monthly income

Employment

Welfare leavers : stuck in poverty

Conclusions.

3. The response to poverty and inequality : the welfare state

Introduction

The public welfare state

Cash assistance

The earned income tax credit (EITC)

In-kind programs

Food and nutrition

Hunger and food insecurity

Child care

Child support

Education

Housing

Health care

Trying to reform health insurance

Health insurance for low-income children (SCHIP)

Health of children of immigrants

Summary : child well-being

Who uses the welfare state?

The impact of the welfare state on poverty

The private welfare state : workers

The "third section"

Conclusions

4. Demonizing the single-mother family : the path to welfare reform

The colonial period

The origins of aid to dependent children

The "suitable home"

The "welfare queen" and the welfare "crisis"

The attacks on welfare

The liberal response to welfare : the war on poverty

The triumph of the "welfare queen"

The transformation of welfare departments

Putting recipients to work

State waivers to increase work requirements

"Ending welfare as we know it"

Conclusions : a return to colonial welfare.

5. The welfare bureaucracy

Welfare bureaucracy as an enactment of moral symbols

The "new" welfare-to-work ideology

The welfare department as an employment agency

The "welfare-to-work" approach

Use of sanctions

Routinization and discretion

Provision of social services

State variations : do they matter?

Integrated vs. specialized case management

Privatization of TANF : who benefits?

Changing the culture of the welfare department

6. Work and the low-wage labor market : mothers and children

What kinds of jobs are available? : the low-wage labor market for women

The rise of non-standard work

Stuck in low-wage jobs

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA)

The impact on welfare leavers

The dilemmas of child care for low-wage workers

The use of child care

The costs of child care

Availability of child care resources

Caring for children with health problems

"It's just not working"

The quality of child care

The effects of child care

Impact of working in the low-wage market on child development

7. Welfare reform and moral entrepreneurship : promoting marriage and responsible parenthood and preventing teenage pregnancy

Marriage and poverty

Married and poor

The fragile families study

Paternity establishment and child-support enforcement

Promoting healthy marriages

Family cap

Domestic violence

PRWORA and teens

Teen single mothers, fathers, and their children

Teen mothers on welfare

Living arrangements

School attendance

Sanctions

Teen children of welfare recipients

Does PRWORA affect rates of teen pregnancy, school dropout, and living arrangements?

Can abstinence-only-until-marriage programs reduce teen pregnancies?

8. Addressing poverty and inequality

The starting point

The interconnectedness of poverty issues

Why there has to be both jobs and income support

Improving the pain labor market

Increasing the income of families : a children's allowance

Improving child care

Childcare : the very early period

Children : preschool

Improving the neighborhood effect

The hard-to-employ.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9780511511493

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.