Phil Harvey, Lisa Conyers

The Human Cost of Welfare (eBook, ePUB)

How the System Hurts the People It's Supposed to Help

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

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.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc
• Seitenzahl: 232
• Altersempfehlung: ab 7 Jahre
• Erscheinungstermin: 25. Februar 2016
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9798216099741
• Artikelnr.: 68167803

Autorenporträt

PHILIP D. HARVEY is president of DKT International, a non-profit organization that oversees social marketing programs in eight countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America./e

Inhaltsangabe

Figures, Tables, and Appendices Foreword by Jonathan Rauch Acknowledgments
Introduction: Welfare Reforms Need Reforming Part I. The Welfare Conflict
Chapter 1. What Does Work Have to Do with Happiness? Chapter 2. The War
Between Welfare and Work Part II. The Counterproductive Qualifications for
Welfare Chapter 3. What Counts as Poverty Chapter 4. Marriage,
Childbearing, and Teen Pregnancy Part III. Welfare Programs in Theory and
in Fact Chapter 5. TANF: The Changing Face of Cash Assistance Chapter 6. A
Housing System Leaves the Needy Out in the Cold Chapter 7. Who Gets Food
Stamps? Chapter 8. WIC: Missteps with Women and Children Chapter 9. How We
Disable the Disabled Chapter 10. Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act
Chapter 11. The Earned Income Tax Credit: Welfare Done (Almost) Right Part
IV. Building Blocks for a Better Welfare System Chapter 12. Patterns of
Dependence and Independence: American Indians on Reservations, Barterers,
and Immigrants Chapter 13. What Should Be Done: From Incentives to Special
Savings Accounts, Solutions Abound to Get Americans Back to Work Notes
Bibliography Index