Blame welfare, ignore poverty and inequality

Introduction

The state of poverty : TANF recipients

The response to poverty and inequality : the welfare state

Demonizing the single-mother family : the path to welfare reform

The welfare bureaucracy

Work and the low-wage labor market : mothers and children

Welfare reform and moral entrepreneurship : promoting marriage and responsible parenthood and preventing teenage pregnancy

Addressing poverty and inequality.

1. Introduction The argument The plan of the book 2. The state of poverty : TANF recipients The myth and reality of poverty in America Measuring poverty Experiencing poverty The risk of poverty and poverty spells Who are the poor? The working poor Poverty, race, and ethnicity Poverty, gender, and single parenthood Child poverty Why is poverty persistently high? Welfare recipients Historical trends Welfare use Characteristics of families Race/ethnicity Education level Welfare and work Monthly income Employment Welfare leavers : stuck in poverty Conclusions

3. The response to poverty and inequality : the welfare state Introduction The public welfare state Cash assistance The earned income tax credit (EITC) In-kind programs Food and nutrition Hunger and food insecurity Child care Child support Education Housing Health care Trying to reform health insurance Health insurance for low-income children (SCHIP) Health of children of immigrants Summary : child well-being Who uses the welfare state? The impact of the welfare state on poverty The private welfare state : workers The "third section" Conclusions 4. Demonizing the single-mother family : the path to welfare reform The colonial period The origins of aid to dependent children The "suitable home" The "welfare queen" and the welfare "crisis" The attacks on welfare The liberal response to welfare : the war on poverty The triumph of the "welfare queen" The transformation of welfare departments Putting recipients to work State waivers to increase work requirements "Ending welfare as we know it" Conclusions : a return to colonial welfare

5. The welfare bureaucracy Welfare bureaucracy as an enactment of moral symbols The "new" welfare-to-work ideology The welfare department as an employment agency The "welfare-to-work" approach Use of sanctions Routinization and discretion Provision of social services State variations : do they matter? Integrated vs. specialized case management Privatization of TANF : who benefits? Changing the culture of the welfare department Conclusions 6. Work and the low-wage labor market : mothers and children What kinds of jobs are available? : the low-wage labor market for women The rise of non-standard work Stuck in low-wage jobs The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) The impact on welfare leavers The dilemmas of child care for low-wage workers The use of child care The costs of child care Availability of child care resources Caring for children with health problems "It's just not working" The quality of child care The effects of child care Impact of working in the low-wage market on child development Conclusions

7. Welfare reform and moral entrepreneurship : promoting marriage and responsible parenthood and preventing teenage pregnancy

Marriage and poverty

Married and poor

The fragile families study

Paternity establishment and child-support enforcement

Promoting healthy marriages

Family cap

Domestic violence

PRWORA and teens

Teen single mothers, fathers, and their children

Teen mothers on welfare

Living arrangements

School attendance

Sanctions

Teen children of welfare recipients

Does PRWORA affect rates of teen pregnancy, school dropout, and living arrangements?

Can abstinence-only-until-marriage programs reduce teen pregnancies?

Conclusions

8. Addressing poverty and inequality

The starting point

The interconnectedness of poverty issues

Why there has to be both jobs and income support

Improving the pain labor market

Increasing the income of families : a children's allowance

Improving child care

Childcare : the very early period

Children : preschool

Improving the neighborhood effect

The hard-to-employ.