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PDF versionWhen welfare-to-work doesn't work
by Dennis Coday on Jul. 21, 2010
Network, the Catholic social justice lobby in Washington, has been monitoring the effectiveness of the so-called "welfare-to-work" laws since Bill Clinton made welfare reform a keystone of his presidency in 1996. Network recently released its latest evaluation and found that in today's economic climate, the programs are severely lacking. See TANF Tested: Lives of Families in Poverty during the Recession (TANF stands for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families).
John Gehring, who blogs at Faith in Public Life, called Network's report "sobering," and he suggested that it "should be read by any elected official or citizen concerned about our nation's fraying social safety net."
Gehring says the report "paints a bleak picture of what happens when the good intentions of 'welfare reform' crash into the realities of the worst economy since the Great Depression."
The report includes the following key findings:
- Since the recession began, government programs have provided limited assistance to people who lost their homes or livelihoods, but families at the very bottom of the economic ladder have not received sufficient help from one of the major programs meant just for them—Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
- TANF’s “Work First” emphasis is problematic during periods of high unemployment and low wages.
- Food stamp (SNAP) and other nutrition programs don’t reach enough families in need.
- Limited access to education and quality job training keep unemployment rates high.
- Many people face more than one barrier to employment, including transportation, child care, disability, domestic violence, and language barriers.
Good blog on a great report.
Good blog on a great report. I had the luxury of attending NETWORK's briefing, and their presentation was impressive. Spectacular work by an important social justice lobby. Everyone needs to be conscious of how this brutal economic environment takes a toll on the most vulnerable in our society, and this was a good start.
Mr. Clinton's "changing
Mr. Clinton's "changing welfare as we know it" was a scheme to balance the budget on the backs of the poor, the sick, and the needy; groups whose few votes and muted voices mattered little to him. The so-called safety net was now gone. Mr. Clinton, (and the Congress who made this possible), was now free to concentrate on those groups of interest to him, namely special interests and large campaign donors who spent more cumulative nights in the Lincoln Bedroom than Motel 8 has beds.
Mr. Clinton's loose dealings opened wide the gates for ethically challenged plutocrats who were on hand to help Mr. George W. Bush abandon all restrictions on the financial and banking industries. Unbridled greed and excesses ruled the roost for another eight years to bring our country to her knees, and the less fortunate wondering where they might live, and how they could feed their families.
Sin(s) Crying to Heaven for Vengeance - Oppression of the poor - Defrauding labourers of their wages.
May God have mercy on us.
H.G. Bishop Timothy (MacLam)
Pilgrim Prayer & Healing Ministries
Thank you so much for writing
Thank you so much for writing this! I don't think many Americans have any concept of the degree to which so many of the welfare "reform" policies defy reality, nor the degree to which they violate fundamental human rights standards (per the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights). The flat indifference we have seen toward our poor does define who and what we Americans are. Our government, with the help of media, thoroughly demonized the poor for the sake of reallocating welfare funds into other things, and the media was silent. (For example, we endlessly heard that we "can't afford": welfare, and that it was "breaking the budget." The media didn't bother to inform the public that AFDC used a mere 6% of the fed. budget at its highest (in the 1970s). Even though benefits fell well below the poverty line, they saved many lives, and made it possible for most (some 80%) to quit welfare for work in under 5 years; in other words, it was remarkably successful, in spite of being under-funded. Those who moved forward repaid every cent they had received, via their own taxes.
Things have only continued to worsen for our poor. There are roughly 6 applicants for every job opening -- 5 are left out. If you lose your job, you could very well lose everything -- including your home, your children, even your life. The few short-term programs that exist are punitive and (to understate it) counter-productive. We have seen appallingly brutal mistreatment of the homeless in some cities. Is this really the best that this generation of Americans can do?
Since Clinton's "reform," few have spoken up on behalf of the poor. Indeed, they've pretty much become invisible, beyond the occasional paragraph on the back page of the daily newspaper about the "Body of homeless man/woman found."
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