 www.araustralia.org |
Alternative Radio (Aust.) PO Box 780 Morwell Victoria 3848 Australia tel. 61-3-5134-8556 mob. 61-413-597-828 inquiries@araustralia.org |
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www.araustralia.org |
Alternative Radio (Aust.) PO Box 780 Morwell Victoria 3848 Australia tel. 61-3-5134-8556 mob. 61-413-597-828 inquiries@araustralia.org |
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In the years following the 1996 welfare reform act, the media were full of success stories of women on welfare who had given up their dependency and were now hard working contributors to society. Their putative laziness and promiscuity were things of the past. Welfare reform would deliver them to the workplace and dignity. It hasn't quite turned out like that. Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), the new version of welfare, is soon to expire. The economic downturn has left many women out of work and destitute. With no safety net, they and their children are driven to soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters.
Frances Fox Piven, founder of the welfare rights movement, is co-author of a number of award-winning books, including Regulating the Poor, The Breaking of the American Social Compact and Why Americans Still Don't Vote. She is Distinguished Professor of political science and sociology at the graduate school of the City University of New York.
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