The Other Welfare

The Other Welfare PDF Author: Edward D. Berkowitz
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801467330
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
The Other Welfare offers the first comprehensive history of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), from its origins as part of President Nixon's daring social reform efforts to its pivotal role in the politics of the Clinton administration. Enacted into law in 1972, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) marked the culmination of liberal social and economic policies that began during the New Deal. The new program provided cash benefits to needy elderly, blind, and disabled individuals. Because of the complex character of SSI-marking both the high tide of the Great Society and the beginning of the retrenchment of the welfare state-it provides the perfect subject for assessing the development of the American state in the late twentieth century. SSI was launched with the hope of freeing welfare programs from social and political stigma; it instead became a source of controversy almost from its very start. Intended as a program that paid uniform benefits across the nation, it ended up replicating many of the state-by-state differences that characterized the American welfare state. Begun as a program intended to provide income for the elderly, SSI evolved into a program that served people with disabilities, becoming a primary source of financial aid for the de-institutionalized mentally ill and a principal support for children with disabilities. Written by a leading historian of America's welfare state and the former chief historian of the Social Security Administration, The Other Welfare illuminates the course of modern social policy. Using documents previously unavailable to researchers, the authors delve into SSI's transformation from the idealistic intentions of its founders to the realities of its performance in America's highly splintered political system. In telling this important and overlooked history, this book alters the conventional wisdom about the development of American social welfare policy.

The Other Welfare

The Other Welfare PDF Author: Edward D. Berkowitz
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801467330
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
The Other Welfare offers the first comprehensive history of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), from its origins as part of President Nixon's daring social reform efforts to its pivotal role in the politics of the Clinton administration. Enacted into law in 1972, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) marked the culmination of liberal social and economic policies that began during the New Deal. The new program provided cash benefits to needy elderly, blind, and disabled individuals. Because of the complex character of SSI-marking both the high tide of the Great Society and the beginning of the retrenchment of the welfare state-it provides the perfect subject for assessing the development of the American state in the late twentieth century. SSI was launched with the hope of freeing welfare programs from social and political stigma; it instead became a source of controversy almost from its very start. Intended as a program that paid uniform benefits across the nation, it ended up replicating many of the state-by-state differences that characterized the American welfare state. Begun as a program intended to provide income for the elderly, SSI evolved into a program that served people with disabilities, becoming a primary source of financial aid for the de-institutionalized mentally ill and a principal support for children with disabilities. Written by a leading historian of America's welfare state and the former chief historian of the Social Security Administration, The Other Welfare illuminates the course of modern social policy. Using documents previously unavailable to researchers, the authors delve into SSI's transformation from the idealistic intentions of its founders to the realities of its performance in America's highly splintered political system. In telling this important and overlooked history, this book alters the conventional wisdom about the development of American social welfare policy.

Living on the Edge

Living on the Edge PDF Author: Mark R. Rank
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231084246
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Based on ten years of research, the book follows individuals and families as they apply for and live on public aid and eventually leave the system. Rank's chronicle of their day-to-day experiences reveals the many sacrifices and crises that tax ordinary people in extraordinary ways. Beginning with a history of welfare from Roosevelt to Clinton, he focuses on AFDC and the Food Stamp program. He then describes the backgrounds of the recipients, their hopes for the future and attitudes toward welfare, their daily routines and problems, their work behavior, and the effect of welfare on family dynamics. Living on the Edge reveals the experiences of female-headed families, married couples, single men and women, and the elderly.

The Human Cost of Welfare

The Human Cost of Welfare PDF Author: Phil Harvey
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1440845352
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Why is the welfare system failing to work for so many people? This book examines the problems with the current welfare system and proposes reforms to create a smarter, smaller system that helps people improve their lives through rewarding work. Unlike other books on welfare, this one draws on the stories of more than 100 welfare recipients who are trapped in a system that keeps them underemployed and unemployed. The authors present case studies that show that being a part of a welfare program can actively result in the recipient having to limit their job efforts for fear of losing government assistance. The book examines all major U.S. welfare systems, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, SNAP, Medicaid, and others. The authors begin by exploring the nation's basic poverty issues and examining the relationship between work and happiness. Next, they zero in on specific welfare programs, reporting both on their dollar costs and on the ways that they fail enrollees. The book then concludes with strategies for addressing the shortcomings of the current U.S. welfare system. This book is appropriate for readers interested in public policy, government programs, welfare, and cultural shifts in America. It adds a new perspective to the existing body of welfare scholarship by systematically assessing the impact of welfare on the receivers themselves.

The Declining Work and Welfare of People with Disabilities

The Declining Work and Welfare of People with Disabilities PDF Author: Richard V. Burkhauser
Publisher: AEI Press
ISBN: 0844772178
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
The U.S. disability insurance system is an important part of the federal social safety net; it provides financial protection to working-age Americans who have illnesses, injuries, or conditions that render them unable to work as they did before becoming disabled or that prevent them from adjusting to other work. An examination of the workings of the system, however, raises deep concerns about its financial stability and effectiveness. Disability rolls are rising, household income for the disabled is stagnant, and employment rates among people with disabilities are at an all-time low. Mary Daly and Richard Burkhauser contend that these outcomes are not inevitable; rather, they are reflections of the incentives built into public policies targeted at those with disabilities, namely the SSDI, SSI-disabled adults, and SSI-disabled children benefit programs. The Declining Work and Welfare of People with Disabilities considers how policies could be changed to improve the well-being of people with disabilities and to control the unsustainable growth in program costs.

The Welfare of Nations

The Welfare of Nations PDF Author: James Bartholomew
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 193970992X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
What damage is being done by failing welfare states? What lessons can be learned from the best welfare states? And—is it too late to stop welfare states from permanently diminishing the lives and liberties of people around the world? Traveling around the globe, James Bartholomew examines welfare models, searching for the best education, health care, and support services in 11 vastly different countries; illuminating the advantages and disadvantages of other nations' welfare states; and delving into crucial issues such as literacy, poverty, and inequality. This is a hard-hitting and provocative contribution to understanding how welfare states, as the defining form of government today, are changing the very nature of modern civilization.

Take the Rich Off Welfare

Take the Rich Off Welfare PDF Author: Mark Zepezauer
Publisher: South End Press
ISBN: 9780896087064
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
When the first version of this book came out in 1996, on the heels of "Welfare Reform," it was received with great popular acclaim. As Jim Hightower put it, "At last, the real welfare scandal [is] revealed in one handy little -volume." But the scandal was still in the making. The total amount of taxpayers' money going to subsidize corporations and rich individuals has grown from about $448 billion to over $800 billion--and the amount of that tax money that comes from those flush companies and individuals continues to shrink. In this greatly expanded and updated version of Take the Rich off Welfare, Mark Zepezauer still details who's on the government dole and how much they're getting. This time around, though, he has slowed down his rapid firing of the latest names and numbers in order to reveal how it all works. Using accessible language and revealing graphics, he takes the time to explain how programs once intended to profit the public have been warped to benefit only the corporate bottom line; how administrations manipulate the tax code to slide their extortion from the bottom half past congressional oversight; and how the politicians from both parties employ budget doubletalk and paper trickery to make it look as if the economy isn't being sucked further into a sinkhole in order to line the pockets of the few. A prolific writer of humorous but cutting analyses of government policy and its fallout, Zepezauer provides us with the tools we need to expose the political chicanery of current and past administrations, and make it much more difficult for politicians to play Three Card Monte with our money and our future. To the rallying cry of fiscal conservatives who claim that government must shrink, Zepezauer offers an easy answer. Shrink you. Mark Zepezauer has worked as a journalist, editor and publisher since 1985. His articles, columns and reviews have appeared in the Village Voice, In These Times and the Arizona Daily Star. Zepezauer also wrote two Real Story books (now published by South End Press): The CIA's Greatest Hits (1994) and the first version of Take the Rich Off Welfare (1996), which have sold over 25,000 and 22,000 copies respec

America's Welfare State

America's Welfare State PDF Author: Edward D. Berkowitz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
"Useful for scholars and students both for its insights into the policy-making process and for its account of how American social policy arrived at the sorry state we find it in today." -- Contemporary Sociology

Making Social Welfare Policy in America

Making Social Welfare Policy in America PDF Author: Edward D. Berkowitz
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022669223X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
American social welfare policy has produced a health system with skyrocketing costs, a disability insurance program that consigns many otherwise productive people to lives of inactivity, and a welfare program that attracts wide criticism. Making Social Welfare Policy in America explains how this happened by examining the historical development of three key programs—Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, and Temporary Aid to Needy Families. Edward D. Berkowitz traces the developments that led to each program’s creation. Policy makers often find it difficult to dislodge a program’s administrative structure, even as political, economic, and cultural circumstances change. Faced with this situation, they therefore solve contemporary problems with outdated programs and must improvise politically acceptable solutions. The results vary according to the political popularity of the program and the changes in the conventional wisdom. Some programs, such as Social Security Disability Insurance, remain in place over time. Policy makers have added new parts to Medicare to reflect modern developments. Congress has abolished Aid to Families of Dependent Children and replaced with a new program intended to encourage work among adult welfare recipients raising young children. Written in an accessible style and using a minimum of academic jargon, this book illuminates how three of our most important social welfare programs have come into existence and how they have fared over time.

From Poor Law to Welfare State, 6th Edition

From Poor Law to Welfare State, 6th Edition PDF Author: Walter I. Trattner
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416593187
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 469

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Book Description
Over twenty-five years and through five editions, Walter I. Trattner's From Poor Law to Welfare State has served as the standard text on the history of welfare policy in the United States. The only comprehensive account of American social welfare history from the colonial era to the present, the new sixth edition has been updated to include the latest developments in our society as well as trends in social welfare. Trattner provides in-depth examination of developments in child welfare, public health, and the evolution of social work as a profession, showing how all these changes affected the treatment of the poor and needy in America. He explores the impact of public policies on social workers and other helping professions -- all against the backdrop of social and intellectual trends in American history. From Poor Law to Welfare State directly addresses racism and sexism and pays special attention to the worsening problems of child abuse, neglect, and homelessness. Topics new to this sixth edition include: A review of President Clinton's health-care reform and its failure, and his efforts to "end welfare as we know it" Recent developments in child welfare including an expanded section on the voluntary use of children's institutions by parents in the nineteenth century, and the continued discrimination against black youth in the juvenile justice system An in-depth discussion of Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein's controversial book, The Bell Curve, which provided social conservatives new weapons in their war on the black poor and social welfare in general The latest information on AIDS and the reappearance of tuberculosis -- and their impact on public health policy A new Preface and Conclusion, and substantially updated Bibliographies Written for students in social work and other human service professions, From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America is also an essential resource for historians, political scientists, sociologists, and policymakers.

The Poverty of Welfare

The Poverty of Welfare PDF Author: Michael Tanner
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 9781930865419
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
The 1996 Welfare Reform Act was the most significant changes in social welfare policy in nearly 30 years. The Poverty of Welfare examines the impact of that reform, looking at the context of welfare's history, and concludes that while welfare reform was a step in the right direction, we have a long way to go to fix the deeply troubled system.