HOW POLICY IMPACTS MY LIFE

How Policy Impacts My Life

How Policy Impacts My Life

Introduction

Social welfare policy's preoccupation with the nuclear family unit featuring a male breadwinner and an economically dependent female homemaker, reveals the presence of a strong "family ethic"--one that has had a profound influence over the relationship between women and the welfare state. Despite the continued presence of many types of families, social welfare programs have consistently favored the conventional family model that uncritically freezes women and men into rigid gender roles (Abramovitz, 2008).

Discussion

The lack of attention to poor women in the social welfare literature reflects several things including a preoccupation with the work ethic, an acceptance of the nuclear family as the only viable family unit, and minimal research interest in the well-being of poor women (www.infoplease.com). From the start, social welfare policy has been shaped by the work ethic and the belief that the provision of benefits to able-bodied persons will weaken their motivation to work. As a result, the cash assistance programs including Social Security benefits, Unemployment Insurance, and Aid To Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) enforce the work ethic either by rewarding higher paid workers over those who earn less or by encouraging able-bodied persons to choose paid labor (no matter what the wage levels or working conditions) over government aid (www.iacgroup.org).

Such policies have kept the labor market supplied with men who are expected to work productively and provide for their families. This portrayal of social welfare policy highlights the problems of male recipients of aid, but it only partially explains, and in fact obscures, the plight of female recipients. They are, after all, the guardians of the domestic sphere, even when they work (www.bartleby.com).

How can I benefit from the Social Welfare Policy?

If social welfare policy conveys to men the message that they belong ...