Recomendations for Refocusing the Welfare Debate

Home | Navigation

RECOMMENDATIONS

Our welfare debate has taken the wrong turn. Attempting to control sexual conduct through public policy is not only naive, it is misguided as this control can only be implemented against women, the child-bearers, and only by way of penalizing their children. This debate is in desperate need of a shift in focus The prime focus of our public debate needs to shift back to the well-being of children and their right to be parented, combined with a concerted effort to prevent unwanted pregnancies, a commitment to protection and assistance for the working poor, and finally the opening of real and substantive employment opportunities for all.

This new welfare debate should:

Challenge the fundamental assumption that it is more acceptable to fund day care than mother care.
Focus on prevention of unwanted pregnancies. Such an effort would necessarily include:
- Concerted efforts to fundamentally change the male culture as it relates to sexuality and women. Nothing less will produce significant results.
- Female self-esteem building that is centered away from their sexualization.
- Adequate recreation opportunities and availability of supervision for children of all ages. To give them a safe and enjoyable way to channel energy positively.
- Plentiful education and mentoring programs to ensure a skilled and fulfilled population.
- Job creation and wage stimulation to give young people a future to look forward to.
Recognize the incompatibility between the structure of most employment opportunities and responsible parenting, with the operating premise being that a parent's moral responsibility should always take precedence over their financial responsibility whenever the two conflict. Changing this may entail:
- The renewed acceptance of the value of stay-at-home motherhood as laudable, acceptable, and, if necessary, publicly supported, work.
- The beginning of a grassroots time movement that will attempt to change the traditional workplace structure to more accurately reflect the flexible potential of our technological age.
Demand, while time limits for public assistance exist, the comprehensive and immediate implementation of all essential supplemental assistance -- such as affordable, safe, and stimulating child care; job training; and affordable housing. Time limits will otherwise be unconscionable and completely ineffective in moving female heads-of-households into increased economic stability.
Work toward making these supplemental programs entitlements with an income-based eligibility standard as opposed to a recipient-status eligibility standard, so that the working poor and their children are protected.
Insist any workfare programs cover participants under the fair labor laws that govern minimum wage and worker safety.
Clarify the exemption of victims of domestic violence from state time and work requirements until such point that they are physically safe and have made significant strides in their psychological recovery.