Lost Ground Welfare Reform, Poverty and Beyond

Much of this book's stimulating content which critiques the impact of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) appeared originally in September 2001 as a special issue of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Albelda (economics, Univ. of Massachusetts, Boston; Economics and Feminism) and Withorn (social policy, Univ. of Massachusetts, Boston) characterize the bias of the 14 contributors (e.g., Lucy White, Joe Soss) as "feminist, antiracist, and progressive." These contributors consider the attitudes toward gender and race of those who crafted and support the act, claiming that its welfare-to-work stipulations are designed not so much to alleviate poverty as to get recipients off "the dole." Throughout these reasoned essays, a recurring theme is that the PRWORA overlooks, if not actively discourages, the prerequisites for self-sufficiency, i.e., a living wage, affordable child care and shelter, education and vocational training, healthcare support, and community- and individually-based power. The act's single-minded goal appears to be discontinuing welfare help "as we know it." This thoughtful and socially relevant work is highly recommended for academic, public, and professional libraries. (Index not seen.) Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology at Alfred
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.