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
