In They Say Cutback, We Say Fight Back!: Welfare Activism in an Era of Retrenchment Ellen Reese provides a detailed account of welfare policy in the aftermath of the great recession. She specifically examines how welfare recipients and grassroots organizations organized towards creating welfare reform from the bottom-up. After the pass of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in 1996, and after many states started re-organizing their welfare system from an entitlement-based to a work-based one, advocacy groups embarked on efforts to lobby officials at the different government and state levels against some of the most sever cuts and policies that these states started to adapt in the different states. Reese argues that these efforts were more successful when there were broad coalitions that cut across race and class. Similarly, she showed that the level of success of these efforts differed from state to state, and even within the state, based on the already existing labor laws and policies in that given state. The book track these strategies and difficulties in two different states, California and Wisconsin, and it …show more content…
shows that success is uneven and it depended on multiple factors, such as local demography, as well as, social and political factors. For example, in chapter six, titled But Who Will Watch The Children?
State And Local Campaigns To Improve Child Care Policies Reese argues that advocates and parents faced different types of struggles in the wake of the welfare reforms. For example, some welfare rights activists defended poor mothers’ right to take care of their children, pushing for various exemptions from welfare-to-work requirements. Mothers, for example, were encouraged to prioritize paid work over family care by caseworkers. These mothers were facing many challenges, such as balancing their families’ needs, work obligations, and welfare regulations. In addition, increase in work activity has mixed impact on children., where the extra income has positive effects on elementary school children, yet mothers’ absence and stress impacted adolescents’ behavior
negatively. Despite that, whether in Wisconsin or in California, very few organizers fought for women’s right not to work, such as the Welfare Warriors group that advocated for mothers with children under 18 to be allowed to not work. The most effective groups, however, are the advocacy groups that organized around limited goals, such as the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee that advocated that mothers shouldn’t have to work when they have children under 1. Groups such as these managed to achieve better success because they dependent on building alliances with other advocacy groups. The strategy worked and work at home counted towards the parents’ welfare-to-work requirement. As I mentioned earlier, the level of success of these policies depended to a large degree on the diversity and philosophy of state legislatures, as well as, the strategies adapted by grassroots organizations. Reese didn’t just provide a comprehensive study of bottom-up organization and action, something which is largely ignored in similar research, she also used an intersectional approach to her work by considering the role of gender and race in determining the effects of state reform policies. that emphasizes class relation in studying oppression and resistance among the underclass.
A Rhetorical Analysis of Lockdown by Evans D. Hopkins. According to the Webster Dictionary, rhetoric is defined as the art of speaking or writing effectively. Rhetoric is made up of three separate appeals that can be used individually or collectively in an attempt to persuade a reader. Ethos is the credibility and qualifications of the speaker or author.
Linda Gordon's article is thoughtful, insightful and highly relevant. As governments slash poverty relief programs at all levels and as welfare-bashing reaches an all-time high, it is instructive to take a step back and look at how the current system developed.
Great discoveries always begin with great questions. Barbara Ehrenreich asked two great questions, “how does anyone live on the wages available to the unskilled” and “how were the roughly four million women about to be booted into the labor market by welfare reform, going to make it on $6 to $7 an hour” (2001, p. 12). To answer the questions, Ehrenreich embarked upon a journey to discover for herself, whether she could match income to expense as a low-wage worker. In effect, Ehrenreich tested the fundamental premise of The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, also known as welfare reform, in order to determine whether those individuals formerly on welfare and largely unskilled, could earn a living wage on the minimum wage.
Hays found that initially most welfare workers were optimistic and even excited about the changes. Most workers felt that the Act represented real progress and allowed for positive changes which would positively impact the lives of their clients. Hays spoke to one welfare who said that welfare reform “offered the training and services necessary to 'make our clients' lives better, to make them better mothers, to make them more productive.'” But as she was soon to find out, welfare reform, while it did have a positive impact on the lives of some welfare clients, made the lives of most clients more difficult, not to mention the stress that it caused for the welfare workers who had to deal with the often confusing and illogical new rules.
The “Sepoy Rebellion”/the first Indian war of independence did not start from one crucial event that may have triggered it all. This rebellion/war was a product of many small and big situations adding up. When the British East India Company first took over, they started with restricting the Indian ocean trade, which was a heavily relied on, as a source of income and goods in India. This restriction largely impacted and made a new economic structure. With the Indian trade restricted, the British benefited. The British Production system was able to flourish because they were able to use the Indian trade routes to export their goods. Most people living in India, at
The people that David Shipler interviewed are the type of people seen every day working at restaurants, Wal-Mart, and gas stations. They do not fit into the prejudice description of mooching welfare recipients. They are people on the edge of the poverty line that are affected by a multitude of issues that snowball into a lifetime of a constant debt and crisis. Shipler studies these working po...
O?Beirne, Kate. ?The State of Welfare: An old and tricky question resurfaces.? National Review 54.2 (February 11, 2002): 1--2. Online. Information Access Expanded
In the summer of 1996, Congress finally passed and the President signed the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996", transforming the nation's welfare system. The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act sets the stage for ongoing reconstruction of welfare systems on a state-by-state basis. The combined programs will increase from nearly $100 billion this year to $130 billion per year in 6 years. Programs included are for food stamps, SSI, child nutrition, foster care, the bloss grant program for child- care, and the new block grant to take the place of AFDC. All of those programs will seek $700 billion over the next 6 years, from the taxpayers of America. This program in its reformed mode will cost $55 billion less than it was assumed to cost if there were no changes and the entitlements were left alone. The current welfare system has failed the very families it was intended to serve. If the present welfare system was working so well we would not be here today.
The name of the article is called, “Blowback: U.S. Actions Abroad Have Repeatedly Led to Unintended Indefensible Consequences” by Chalmers Johnson. After reading the article by Johnson I have to say I can easily understand where the writer of the article is coming from. The article is pretty much about how the United States constantly has to deal with consequences because of their actions. The CIA described it as “blowback.”An example the writer used to support this was using the September 11 attack this is one of the most recent incidents talked about in the article. As well as, its an incident that caused a period in time when the majority of the general public actually trusted the government. This attack occurred because of the United
The prospect of the welfare state in America appears to be bleak and almost useless for many citizens who live below the poverty line. Katz’s description of the welfare state as a system that is “partly public, partly private, partly mixed; incomplete and still not universal; defeating its own objectives” whereas has demonstrates how it has become this way by outlining the history of the welfare state which is shown that it has been produced in layers. The recent outcomes that Katz writes about is the Clinton reform in 1996 where benefits are limited to a period of two years and no one is allowed to collect for more than five years in their lifetime unless they are exempted. A person may only receive an exemption on the grounds of hardship in which states are limited to granting a maximum of 20% of the recipient population. The logic behind this drastic measure was to ensure that recipients would not become dependent upon relief and would encourage them to seek out any form of employment as quickly as possible. State officials have laid claim to this innovation as a strategy that would “save millions of children from poverty.” However, state officials predict otherwise such as an increase in homelessness, a flooding of low-waged workers in the labour market, and decreased purchasing power which means less income from tax collections. The outcomes of this reform appear to be bleak for many Americans who reside below the poverty line. How does a wealthy country like America have such weak welfare system? Drawing upon Katz, I argue that the development of the semi-welfare state is a result of the state taking measures to ensure that the people do not perceive relief as a right and to avoid exploiting the shortfalls of capitalism ...
In today’s America, there are many people who would either be disgusted at the very mention of Welfare or be highly grateful for its existence. I believe that in order for welfare to be more effective in America, there must be reform. From the time of its inceptions in 1935, welfare has lent a helping hand to many in crisis (Constitution Rights Foundation). However, at present many programs within the system are being abused and the people who are in real need are being cheated out of assistance. The year after the creation of welfare unemployment was just about twenty percent (Unemployment Statistics). The need for basic resources to survive was unparallel. Today, many people face the same needs as many did during the 30s. Some issues with
Working families often cannot pay their rent, or sometimes food. According to an article in The Bill Moyers & Company “Three Steps We Can Take to Solve Poverty, From Someone Who Knows Firsthand” by Tianna Turner, U.S. government should give good tax breaks for companies that provide secure jobs, encourage them to have paid sick and family leave, and invest in affordable and high-quality child care. (Turner) It is true that companies that have tax breaks can utilize tax money to raise the surplus for living wages. Moreover, employees who have paid sick and family leave are more likely perform better in their work because they do not have to worry about the lost hours that result in lost pay. Childcare has always been neglected in the U.S. for a very long time. Many research show that kids in high-quality preschools have better graduation rate from high school, and they tend earn more as adults. If the U.S. childcare system is fix, the parents will have more time to focus on their job, and the overall quality of U.S. citizen will change
Since the Welfare reform law was introduced in 1996 it has impacted American society greatly. The new welfare policy, named the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), replaced the Aid to Family and Dependent Children (AFDC) program; they have five known differences that only affect the ones who need the assistance. Critics argue that the TANF has negatively impacted the society while some argue that it has not. Linda Burnham, author of “Welfare Reform, Family Hardship & Woman of Color,” asserts that “welfare reform has increased the hardship faced by many women leaving welfare for work and their movement into low-wage jobs, exposes them to higher level of housing insecurities, homelessness, food insecurity, and hunger.” She also argues that women of color “are especially vulnerable to the negative impact of welfare reform” (38).
I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.
Being raised in a single-parent lower class home, I realize first-hand the need for welfare and government assistance programs. I also realize that the system is very complex and can become a crutch to people who become dependent and complacent. As a liberal American I do believe that the government should provide services to the less fortunate and resources to find work. However, as able-bodied citizens we should not become complacent with collecting benefits and it is the government’s job to identify people who take advantage of the system and strip benefits from people who are not making efforts to support themselves independently. I will identify errors that exist within the welfare system and several policy recommendations to implement a change that will counteract the negative conditions that currently exist.