"So You Think I Drive a Cadillac?": Welfare Recipients' Perspectives on the System and Its Reform

by Seccombe, Karen

• ISBN13: 9780205283125
• ISBN10: 0205283128
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-01-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

"Underneath the political rhetoric and welfare statistics are real live human beings who are trying to make sense out of their lives." These are the words of author Karen Seccombe, as she attempts to elucidate the experiences of welfare recipients and the hardships that continue to plague them with the institution of the new welfare reforms. Provides readers with stories from welfare recipients' themselves: how they got onto welfare, what the reality of welfare (and welfare reform) is for them, and what their plans, hopes, and dreams are for the future. Welfare recipients who were interviewed by the author shared their perspectives on work requirements, family caps, time limits, and other features of TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) -- the new welfare reform program. Their voices provide a crucial counterpoint to the politicians and policy "experts" who have shaped the policy reform initiative. These qualitative interviews are supplemented with up-to-date statewide and national data on welfare reform and its consequences. Social workers, social policy specialists, welfare workers, politicians, and educators and researchers in the field of social policy and welfare reform.A Longwood Professional Book.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
1 Introduction: Putting a Face on Welfare	1	(25)
Critical and Feminist Frameworks	6	(3)
Specific Contributions of This Study of Lived Experience	9	(2)
Welfare and Public Policy	11	(2)
Where Are the Voices of Welfare Recipients in the Discussion?	13	(1)
A National Profile of Welfare Recipients	14	(6)
Who Are the Participants in This Study?	20	(3)
Conclusion and Organization	23	(3)
2 Historic and Persisting Dilemmas: How Do We Explain Poverty, and What Should We Do about It?	26	(22)
History of Aid to Families with Dependent Children	27	(9)
Recent Attempts at Welfare Reform	36	(4)
Explanations of Poverty and Welfare Use	40	(8)
Individualism	41	(2)
Social Structuralism	43	(2)
Culture of Poverty	45	(1)
Fatalism	46	(2)
3 Stigma and Discrimination	48	(26)
Awareness of Societal Attitudes toward Welfare Recipients	50	(10)
Racism and Welfare	53	(3)
Contexts in Which Stigma and Discrimination Occur	56	(4)
Managing Stigma	60	(14)
Denial	60	(1)
Distancing Themselves from Other Welfare Recipients	61	(8)
Blaming External Forces: "It's Not My Fault"	69	(1)
Extolling the Importance of Motherhood	69	(5)
4 Why Welfare?	74	(28)
The Influence of Social Structure	77	(14)
Employment	77	(2)
Child Care	79	(4)
Fathers' Involvement	83	(1)
Transportation	84	(2)
Racism and Sexism	86	(1)
The Welfare System Breeds "Dependence" on the System	87	(4)
Fatalism	91	(8)
Bad Luck	91	(1)
Poor Health	92	(2)
The Termination of Relationships	94	(2)
Violence	96	(3)
Why the Inconsistency Between Explanations of Their Own and Others' Use of Welfare?	99	(3)
5 Day-to-Day Living and Decision Making	102	(23)
Day-to-Day Activities: Wild Living, or Depressing Routine?	106	(2)
Making Ends Meet with "The Check"	108	(4)
Living and Surviving on Food Stamps	112	(2)
Juggling Bills	114	(2)
Coping with the Stress	116	(3)
Affording Life's "Luxuries"	119	(3)
Supplementing Welfare	122	(3)
6 Living and Surviving Welfare: The Importance of Family, Friends, and Formal Support	125	(26)
Informal Support: Help from Families, Friends and Neighbors, and Children's Fathers	131	(13)
Assistance from Families	131	(4)
Assistance from Friends and Neighbors	135	(4)
Assistance from Children's Fathers	139	(5)
Formal Support: Help from Charities and Social Services	144	(2)
Working Side Jobs: Is This Fraud?	146	(5)
7 Insiders' Perspectives on the Welfare System	151	(29)
Florida WAGES: A Case Example	155	(4)
The Role of Government	159	(2)
Opinions of the Welfare System	161	(6)
Strengths of the Welfare System	162	(2)
Weaknesses of the Welfare System	164	(3)
Welfare Reforms	167	(8)
Time Limits	168	(3)
Work Requirements	171	(3)
Family Caps	174	(1)
Ideas for Reform	175	(5)
8 Getting Off Welfare	180	(28)
The Women in the Middle: Why Increasing Human Capital Is Not the Only Answer	185	(10)
Education and Employment Training	186	(6)
Work Experience	192	(3)
The Importance of Our Social Structure	195	(13)
Not Enough Jobs	195	(2)
Types of Jobs Available for Women on Welfare	197	(6)
Why Some Women on Welfare Are Hesitant to Take Jobs	203	(5)
9 Conclusion: Lessons Learned and Visions of Change	208	(14)
References	222	(12)
Appendix	234	(9)
Index	243