The Senate will soon vote on the extension of the
welfare reform
program first passed in 1996. Many people have gotten off the welfare
rolls and into paid work, thanks to a high employment economy and
decent state work-support programs made possible by the temporary
surplus of state welfare funds. Even with this success, millions of
women and their children have fallen through the cracks.
And all that’s about to change for the worse. The surpluses are gone, the jobs are dwindling, and now the Bush administration wants to tighten the screws on the poor. The House has already passed legislationrequiring states to spend more money on marriage promotion, and reducing the ability of women forced off welfare to combine work and education. The White House also wants to push even more women with even younger children into paid employment, without any more spending on child care.
On June 20, The Prospect will be publishing a special supplement on
the welfare experience since 1996 — the politics, the research
findings, and the policy choices — titled “Reforming Welfare Reform.”
For a preview, click on these articles by Mark Greenberg and David
Hage:
Welfare reform has been in many respects a success. But if the White Houseprevails, that’s about to change for the worse.
Mark Greenberg
No need to consult the states: The White House has welfare reform all figured out.
David Hage
