Over the past few decades, the goal of welfare reform has been to move poor families off of welfare, not necessarily out of poverty. By that criterion, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 has been successful indeed: throughout the nation, millions have vanished from the welfare rolls. But what has been the cost of this "success" to the women and children who were the overwhelming majority of recipients?
Here a group of distinguished feminist scholars examines the causes and the impact of recent changes in welfare policy. Some of the authors trace the politics of welfare from the 1960s, emphasizing how attitudes toward "motherwork" and "working mothers" have evolved in the backlash against poor women's motherhood. Several other authors consider the effects of the new welfare policy on employment and wages, on the lives of noncitizen immigrants, on poor women's ability to escape domestic violence, and on their reproductive and parental rights. A third set of authors explores dependency and caregiving, along with the role of feminist thinking on these issues in the politics of welfare.
Whose Welfare? concludes with a historical analysis of activism among poor women. By illuminating that legacy, the volume challenges readers to build progressive agendas from the demands and actions of poor and working-class women.
Gwendolyn Mink is Professor of Politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of several books, most recently Welfare's End and Hostile Environment, both from Cornell.
What People are Saying About This
Martha F. Davis
In a series of nuanced and provocative essays, these feminist scholars lay bare the 1994 federal welfare reform law, exposing its sexist and racist assumptions... At the same time, [they] map out the road to a future where the answer to whose welfare will include women of all classes, races, and backgrounds. This is a must-read handbook for all who are trying to make that future a reality.
Joel Handler
This is a remarkable collection of essays —intelligent, thoughtful, and policy-relevant. The authors cover the full range of issues in the current welfare reform. Written from a feminist perspective, the book sheds light on important questions of where our country wants to go in its war against poor single mothers and their children.
