Urban Studies 101: The State and Social Policy

How do social policies and institutions reinforce racial

discrimination?

According to the US Census Bureau, in 2009:

U.S. Median Incomes in 2009 by Race: White $51,861

White, not Hispanic $54,461 Black $32,584 Asian $65,469 Hispanic origin (any race) $38,039 Percent of population living in poverty: White 29,830; 12.3%

White, not Hispanic 18,530; 9.4% Black 9,944; 25.8% Asian 1,746; 12.5% Hispanic origin 12,350; 25.3%

What is Welfare? In 1935, in the wake of the Great Depression,

the U.S. Congress passed the Social Security Act. 

This Act created the public retirement plan that is now known as Social Security, as well as several other Federal government programs designed to help poor Americans.  

One of these programs was AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children).  This program guaranteed federal reimbursement for state support to poor children and their caregivers. 

What is welfare? Although states decided who qualified as

"needy" and who didn't, the federal government set basic eligibility requirements and provided most of the funding for the program, which was also called “public assistance.”

However, until the 1960s, very few people were able to gain access to welfare benefits.  In fact, most states refused to give benefits to women and children who were eligible under federal guidelines.

What is Welfare? Then, in the late 1960s, poor women and

civil rights activists formed what became known as the Welfare Rights Movement. 

This movement demanded access to welfare benefits for those who were rightfully entitled to them. 

As a result, access to public assistance expanded tremendously. 

What is welfare? The federal entitlement to AFDC remained in

place as part of the social "safety net" until 1996 when president Clinton signed into law new legislation that “ended welfare as we know it.” 

This legislation is typically called welfare “reform.”

Myths about Welfare Since the 1980s, politicians, media pundits and

policy makers have complained bitterly about the “problems” and “excesses” of the welfare system.  However, the rhetoric they have used often distorts the truth about public assistance and the people who rely on it.  To this day, the general public has an inaccurate view of welfare. 

Before we discuss what changed, exactly, in 1996, when welfare “reform” went into effect, let’s examine some of the myths about welfare.

Myth # 1Welfare costs taxpayers a lot of money.  Before welfare reform in 1996, AFDC only

served about 5% of the population and accounted for less than 1% of the federal budget, and less than 3% of state budgets.

Myth # 2Welfare supported lazy women who refused

to work. But most single mothers on welfare do

work. They cycle on and off of welfare balancing jobs that don’t pay enough or provide the benefits they need. Sometimes, they go on welfare due to their own, or a child’s illness.

Myth # 3Welfare encourages women to have many

children out of wedlock b/c it pays so much per child.

On average welfare mothers have fewer kids than non-welfare mothers.

Myth # 4Welfare recipients are poor black women who live

in the inner city. 

The truth is that most welfare recipients are white and they are disbursed across rural, suburban and urban areas.

  These myths work to cover up the reasons that

so many American women are living in poverty.

Women and Poverty Single mothers and their children

represent a disproportionate number of the poor. Why? Are single mothers lazy?  Is that why they end up poor?

We can explain this in terms of gender stratification.

Gender Stratification Gendered division of labor – poor women are relegated

to occupational “ghettos” where they made less money and had less job security or chance for advancement than men.

Sociologist Douglas Massey tells us that upper class women have benefitted the most from attempts to challenge occupational hierarchies. Upper class women enjoy greater access to family

income prestigious occupations, and child-rearing supports than they did in the past (though still not on a level that makes them equal with men).

Poor women have stagnant earnings, higher rates of poverty, limited occupational mobility, and fewer child-rearing supports.

Women and Poverty They explain that a disproportionate number of

single mothers are poor because:   They face lower wages because of gender

discrimination in the workplace; They must juggle paid work with unpaid work, such as

childcare (our society does not recognize the economic activity of childrearing as work); and

They must do all of this with only one income.

The Attack on Welfare It is easier for politicians to blame poor women -- and the

program designed to help them -- than to address the reasons single mothers and others are poor in the first place.

Currently political viewpoints (of both Republicans and Democrats) seek to downplay the role of the government in insuring social welfare and to devolve that responsibility instead onto families.

There is a bias against women who choose to live without husbands and who thus might need aid over the long-term.

Welfare “Reform” The Provisions of the Welfare Reform Act of

1996 Set a life-time limit of 5 years for all women to receive

welfare benefits. Put restrictions on benefits for immigrants. Require “rapid attachment” to the workforce for all

participants, encouraging workfare during the 5 year period of eligibility.

Provides only limited access to education and job training as an alternative to workfare.

Only 15 states allow participants to attend 4-year colleges!

Workfare

Participants must “work off” their benefits. Single parents must work at least 30

hours/week. Two-parent households must work at least

35-55 hours/week. Jobs are assigned by benefits counselors.

Workfare Criticisms Participants often have to travel long distances

to their jobs. Childcare is often not provided past age 5. Jobs are low-wage and “dead end.” In NYC, most workfare recipients work off their

benefits cleaning Parks, sweeping streets and performing clerical tasks.

Workfare participants are severely sanctioned for missing or being late to work.

Keep in mind, there is no union here!

Leaves families well below poverty levelAccording to a 2010

study by the Center on Budget Policy Priorities, in all states, TANF maximum benefit levels for a family of three are less than half of the Federal Poverty Level and less than the HUD Fair Market rent for a two-bedroom apartment http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3306&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cbpp%2FfYJq+%28Center+on+Budget+and+Poli

cy+Priorities%29

NYC Applicants for assistance go to “job centers.” Whereas

previously you could go in and apply, now you have to go back two or three days in a row to even get an application.

Then there's a “job search” requirement in the 35-50-day waiting period while your application is being processed, during which you must report every day to the center between nine and five. If you miss one day, your application is thrown out and you have to start over.

NYC, Cont. Most Workfare workers get jobs working for the

city (cleaning subways, parks, or doing other menial jobs)

In 2010, a 3-person family (one parent, 2 kids) receives $753/month in cash assistance (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2010).

Roughly, that comes out to $6.20/hr ($753/4/30) Since the implementation of WEP in 1995,

22,000 city jobs have been eliminated.

Workfare and The Erosion of Economic Citizenship

What rights should all US economic citizens have in exchange for hard work? Decent wages and benefits

The Three Ways the Workfare Undermines these Rights

1) Poor Women get benefits Walmart-style. In the current situation, many women are forced to work in low-wages jobs at places like Walmart. These corporations don’t pay wages high enough for women to make ends meet. And the corporations know this, so they encourage the women workers to rely on state aid to bring their incomes to subsistence levels. Then poor women get blamed for being dependent on state aid.

2) Workfare programs create downward mobility for women; overqualified women are forced into any available position to fulfill their workfare work mandates. They can’t hold out for better, higher paying jobs for which they are qualified.

3) By forcing women to work but by labeling their wags as aid, workfare denies women independence and autonomy in the workforce. It creates an ambiguous category of workers -- are they welfare recipients or workers? And who is responsible for insuring that they ear fair wages and are treated fairly on the job?

Welfare and Poverty Alternative policy reforms:

Create income-maintenance systems that recognize the need for full-time childcare.

Provide support for low-wage workers. Close the gender gap in pay. Create jobs. Expand access to free and affordable

education. Fix the tax structure to allow for government

spending on programs for the poor.