The welfare rolls have fallen by almost half since 1994. To assess the impact of this dramatic change, both journalists and social scientists have been talking to families that have left the rolls. But these families are only half the story. Even without welfare reform, nearly half the single mothers on the rolls in 1994 […]
Christopher Jencks
Christopher Jencks is Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy, Emeritus, at Harvard University and the author of such books as The Academic Revolution (with David Riesman), Inequality: Who Gets Ahead?, Rethinking Social Policy, and The Homeless. A longtime member of the board of The American Prospect, he has played a major role in the development of the magazine.
Posted inEducation in America
Controversy: The Black-White Test Score Gap
Claude M. Steele Some people who would like very much to right racial inequality will not like the idea, proposed by Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips, that reducing the black-white test score gap could be a prime target of public policy. African Americans have been hammered by this test score gap for decades. Focusing on […]
Posted inEconomic Policy
Do Poor Women Have a Right to Bear Children?
The current movement to reform welfare implies an uncomfortable thought: Perhaps poor women don’t have the right to bear children. Are we really prepared to say that?
Posted inEconomic Policy
Can We Put a Time Limit on Welfare?
Clinton’s proposal for a two-year limit on AFDC payments would be the most far-reaching welfare reform since 1935. But if the goal is to make welfare mothers self-sufficient, it won’t be cheap.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Is Violent Crime Increasing?
News reports of an all-time record crime wave have set off a panic that America is out of control. What are the real facts?
Posted inEconomic Policy
The Real Welfare Problem
A new study documents that in major cities, a welfare check barely pays rent and utilities.
