Welfare Realities: From Rethoric to Reform

A compilation of chapters individually authored by either Bane or Ellwood. Bane’s contributions analyze program administration and recommend replacing the ‘eligibility–compliance’ culture of welfare with an authoritative culture promoting self-sufficiency. Ellwood’s chapters reanalyze his and Bane’s widely cited but previously unpublished data on the duration of individuals’ reliance on welfare. Influenced by recent work showing that women ‘cycle’ on and off welfare, Ellwood adds up individuals’ ‘spells’ on welfare and examines the differences among those who remain a long time on welfare, those who exit quickly, and those who cycle on and off… Ellwood also examines theories of welfare behavior by comparing the predictions of economists’ rational explanations and other theories with findings on welfare use. Not surprisingly, data on single mothers’ work and welfare patterns support a model of a distinctive culture of dependency. – Stacy Oliker, Signs