Essay | Requiem for Welfare

Requiem for Welfare, by Evelyn Z. Brodkin examines the welfare dilemma. Brodkin explains that welfare reform may lower caseloads, but does not diffuse the need for welfare which, in the end, leads to homelessness. The new welfare consists of tough rules, time limits and devolution (the transfer of responsibility to another, in this case, the government). On top of these changes the Bush administration created a reauthorization plan that increased work requirements, cut opportunities for education and training, added more moralism, and extended devolution (Brodkin, 2003). There are three ways to lower welfare caseloads. One way is to find a good job. A second way is to take bad jobs. The third way is by making the benefits harder to obtain.

Finding a good job is the first way to lower welfare caseloads. These jobs are stable, at least enough to keep the...
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