Keeping Women and Children Last
America's War on the Poor, Revised Edition
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
In Keeping Women and Children Last, Ruth Sidel shows how America, in its search for a post-Cold War enemy, has turned inward to target single mothers on welfare, and how politicians have scapegoated and stigmatized female-headed families both as a method of social control and to divert attention from the severe problems that Americans face. She reveals the real victims of poverty--the millions of children who suffer from societal neglect, inferior education, inadequate health care, hunger, and homelessness. In this new edition, focusing on the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Sidel reevaluates our social policy, assessing the impact of the "end of welfare as we know it" on America's poor, especially its women and children.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this sequel to 1986's Women and Children Last, sociologist Sidel attempts to untangle and then correct the public misperceptions about America's poor. It is a daunting task, but Sidel succeeds admirably, without losing her academic detachment. The book is a comprehensive analysis of data and personal anecdotes which highlight the absurdity of the current welfare debate on Capitol Hill. Her research reveals, among other things, that many of the poor hold full-time jobs, were formerly members of the middle class and hold middle-class values. In fact, Sidel's data, interviews and conclusions are so well-presented and convincing, one wonders how any reader could possibly disagree. Fortunately, Sidel also addresses the more emotional, irrational aspects of the arguments against welfare and the way those arguments demonize welfare recipients and poor women. Sidel's progressive suggestions on how society can remedy economic disparity close the book on a hopeful note. Like its predecessor, this is a thoughtfully researched exploration of the myths and reality of America's attitude towards its least fortunate.
