The Failure of the Welfare State and the Breakdown of the Family

Abstract

Never before has such a cultural firestorm erupted over the words of a sitting public official. Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, speaking of former Vice President Dan Quayle’s family values speech, marked May 11, 1992, as the “formal Declaration of the Culture War.” The substance of Quayle’s speech was much overlooked, with exception to one sentence: Quayle’s criticism of “a TV show’s glamorization of unwed motherhood.”“It doesn’t help matters when prime time TV has Murphy Brown - a character who supposedly epitomizes today’s intelligent, highly paid, professional woman - mocking the importance of fathers, by bearing a child alone, and calling it just another ‘lifestyle choice,’” Quayle said. This sentence, more than any other, ignited a national debate of family values and personal responsibility. However, the message Quayle tells us is much more important than a single sentence. It will be demonstrated through a presentation of social science research that this family breakdown can be directly contributed to a failed welfare system.