Tuesday, May 08, 2001
I get a little irritated when people bring out the "what is to be done" question as if it were a real zinger. After two decades of largely upwardly redistributive social policy, the first question is: What is to be undone? I'd start by ending welfare reform as we know it, and if everyone is so determined that single moms be out working at Wendy's instead of staying home with the kids, then we've got to have serious and reliable transitional benefits—childcare, Medicaid, food stamps (which some states have been snatching away just as they kick a woman off welfare)—until that glorious day when Wendy's wages and benefits suffice to keep a family out of the dumpsters.
--- Barbara Ehrenreich
posted at 6:27 PM