European University Institute Library

Stretched thin, poor families, welfare work, and welfare reform, Sandra Morgen, Joan Acker, Jill Weigt

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-232) and index

index present

non fiction

Stretched thin

bibliography

426390842

Sandra Morgen, Joan Acker, Jill Weigt

poor families, welfare work, and welfare reform

This volume examines the effects of mid 10s welfare reform in the state of Oregon. The reforms made cash assistance temporary and contingent on recipients' seeking and finding employment. Based on comprehensive research conducted in the late 10s, researchers interviewed and observed low-income families across the state, as well as welfare workers and administrators. These interviews led to new definitions of the problems facing those who work within the welfare delivery system and the people the system serves. The researchers assessed the strengths and shortcoming of welfare reform, and they suggest policy directions that will promote economic security and family well being. The reasons for the overall failure of welfare reform, the authors concluded, are complex and rooted in a misdiagnosis of the reasons that millions of families are poor and dependence on policy solutions "that intensified economic insecurity and reproduced inequalities more than they fostered poverty reduction or economic opportunity." The authors call for an immediate effort to build a stronger social safety net and to repeal the most onerous provisions of welfare reform. They recommend a host of policies to promote economic security including a focus on developing higher wage jobs, health care reform, and access to high quality and affordable higher education, housing and child care

Introduction : questioning the success of welfare reform -- History and political economy of welfare in the United States and Oregon -- Velvet gloves, iron fists, and rose-colored glasses : welfare administrators and the official story of welfare restructuring -- Doing the work of welfare : enforcing "self-sufficiency" on the front lines -- Negotiating neoliberal ideology and "on the ground" reality in welfare work -- The other side of the desk : client experiences and perspectives on welfare restructuring -- Life after welfare : the costs of low-wage employment -- Conclusion : reforming welfare "reform."