Welfare to Work: Myth and Fact, Social Inclusion and Labour Exclusion

Abstract

It is a rare occasion to find a book that has a much more ambitious goal than the one its author claims. But in Blame Welfare, Ignore Poverty and Inequality,1 Joel Handler and Yeheskel Hasenfeld repeatedly claim that the thesis of the book is that America's record in treating poor, single mothers is grim, if not scandalous.2 In fact, however, the book covers a much wider terrain. It not only describes and critiques a wide array of welfare state arrangements that do not target welfare mothers in particular, in areas such as health, housing, child care and education, but also includes an assessment of the contemporary American low-wage labour market. And it is to the reader's benefit that the authors go beyond their stated objective. America is indeed exceptional in its demonizing of single mothers, but tracing the roots of this phenomenon (which will probably reveal race-based...