Blame Welfare, Ignore Poverty and Inequality

by Joel F. Handler, Yeheskel Hasenfeld, Yeheskel Hansenfeld

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521690455
• ISBN13: 9780521690454
• Release Date: November 2006
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Repeated Failures

The authors have important things to say about poverty in the United States. One is that we citizens need to stop obsessing over the incredibly few individuals who will take advantage of any welfare program we can devise, and instead we need to start looking at the increasing numbers of genuinely struggling individuals who need a bit of assistance. The United States' policies for dealing with poverty have not worked to reduce poverty. Based on flawed premises, they never have worked to reduce poverty and never will. When something isn't working, it's time to try something new. These authors point the way.