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Before welfare reform I had success stories of battered women who went on to college and got good jobs, which they still have. They received financial assistance and child care assistance. Without that help, they'd either still be on or would would have needed help for longer periods of time. At the initiation of welfare reform in our area, I was at a meeting where at top welfare official in the area said, "Our philosophy is any job is better than no job." And I asked, "Any job that pays less than minimum wage? Any job that violates health or safety rules? Any job that discriminates against women or minorities in pay or responsibility? Any job is better than non job?" And she replied, "Well, no, I didn't mean that." And I responded, "Well, then you'd better change your philosophy."
I have no problem with real welfare reform that is truly designed to help move people on welfate to work. But then we need adequate transportation assistance, adequate child care---including in particular sick child care (more low-income people lose their jobs because of sick children than any other reason), a true opportunity for education to lead to living wage jobs, more mentoring, more job coaching." Most welfare reform assistance consists of helping people learn how to fill out a job application and sending them out to apply, and then criticizing where they apply.
It is interesting, when welfare reform went into place, the economy was booming, so welfare reform got lots of credit for helping people move from welfare to work. But frankly, as some posters have already noted, most people don't want to be on welfare, so if they can find a job they take it. The folks who worked in job placement programs told me there jobs were really hard, because the people who weren't working, were the people with really significant barriers to employment.
And I was a meeting last week where folks were talking about living wage jobs to be sure one parent could stay home because kids are really needing their parents to be around, and I thought about all the single parent families who have no choice.
I strongly support Welfare Reform, it's the welfare deform that's been passing as reform that I oppose.
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