Ending Welfare As We Know It
This summer President Clinton signed the Welfare Reform Bill, eliminating the federal guarantee of public assistance to the poor that had been in place for over thirty years. Critics argue that the results will be disastrous, turning America into another Brazil inhabited by the very rich and the very poor. Supporters claim that welfare demoralized and destroyed families, and we're better off without it. What changed to make such a sweeping reform possible? What are the likely results? We asked three distinguished social scientists who have been watching the summer's events and grappling with their implications.Reluctant Good Samaritans, or How We Got Into This Fix
Michael Katz, History
Looking at the Numbers: "Small Change" and Big Changes
Robert Inman, Finance and Economics
The Eye of the Beholder: Welfare Facts and Fiction
Frank Furstenberg, Jr., Sociology
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