Betty Reid Mandell

Betty Reid Mandell has been a welfare-rights activist since the 1960s. She coedits the newspaper Survival News, written by and about poor people, and is the author of several books on social welfare issues.

Many poor Americans and other concerned individuals fear that welfare-reform proposals and cuts in welfare benefits will make the lives of poor women and children more miserable. Because of the scarcity of jobs that pay a livable wage, impoverished Americans need programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), job training, and food stamps. The poor should not be criticized or scapegoated for depending on these welfare programs to survive. To help poor mothers, government should improve AFDC, expand the economy, and strive to provide universal health insurance and day care.

David Stockman, Ronald Reagan’s budget director...