1996 Welfare Reform

Our book presentation was based on the book, $2 A Day. In the book, the authors argue that the 1996 welfare reform is incomplete with poor consequences. They argue that the new welfare reform not only cannot help the families in crisis, but also increase the number of individuals that live on only $2 a day. Throughout the book, the authors point out the flaws of the 1996 welfare reform and provide suggestions to modify it. The authors argue when we are trying to help the poor to live off poverty, we have to help them in a supportive way. Having to spend hours, days and weeks to apply and obtain cash assistance from the new welfare program when they are needed will greatly decrease their self-confidence in the society, which is very important
They studied the Survey of Income and Program Participation (“SIPP”), which is a survey-interview administered by the US Census Bureau to calculate the total income and the degree of participation in government assistance programs of employees that participate. They found that the number of individuals who live on only $2 a day doubled in a decade and a half. After that, they did an in-depth ethnographic study in Chicago, Mississippi Delta, Cleveland and Johnson City, Tennessee to find out the reasons of living on $2 a day. They did participant observations and interviews with families that have children and have spent at least three months living on $2 a day for several months. The theoretical approach in this book is functionalism, which focuses on the interdependence of each institution in a society. The functionalists believe that the society can only function well if each institution can cooperate well. In the book, the authors argue that the new institution of welfare does not help the families in crisis, but increase the number of individuals that live on $2 a
The authors spent half a chapter to remind us the reason of changing our past welfare, which made it very clear to the readers if they did not know about the welfare reform. After that, the authors pointed out the statistical evidence that showed the growing number of $2-a-day individuals to evoke the readers’ interests to explore further the reasons of this growing trend. Each chapter included several different life stories which were pertinent very well to the topic and provided adequate details to the readers. The life stories also illustrated very strong supporting evidence to the different topics of the chapters such as the flaws of the new welfare, the lack of affordable housings, the poor work conditions, the different ways to survive on $2-a-day and the separation of the poor in our society. At the end of the book, the authors’ suggestions to modify the current welfare are very reasonable and practical. I think the only weakness of the book is the lack of illustrations to convey the messages. Having some pictures or graphs inside the book can help convey the messages easily and makes the book more interesting to