Despite outearning nine out of 10 women leaving the welfare rolls since the Welfare Reform Act was passed in 1996, Angela Jobe and her family suffer from hunger and lack health insurance.
Last night, Jobe's story took center stage as New York Times senior writer Jason DeParle recounted her struggles before approximately 140 University community members gathered in Houston Hall. The event drew students concerned about the future of welfare reform.
An expert on welfare reform, DeParle presented his new book, American Dream, which documents the trials of Jobe and two other black mothers on welfare in Milwaukee. Their tale is entwined in the political melee of welfare reform.
In 1996, welfare was restructured in an effort to reduce recipients' dependence on the government. Formerly, welfare was distributed according to economic need. The 1996 Welfare Reform Act, however, required recipients to secure employment or participate in job-training programs in order to receive monthly checks. Working parents, Congress reasoned, would feel empowered and provide strong role models for impoverished children.
Jobe's experience with the revamped welfare system brings to light severe flaws. After the act took effect, she obtained employment as a nursing aide through the government's Welfare to Work program, a key component of the reform legislation.
Initially, working gave new meaning to Jobe's life, DeParle recalled.
However, at $7.50 an hour, the meager wage limited any feelings of empowerment. DeParle was surprised to discover that Jobe's family lived on the edge of poverty, even though she took in earnings in the 85th percentile of the program.
"I was struck by how precarious her circumstance was," he said of his investigative work.
Instead of being inspired by her career, Jobe's children were oblivious to the fact that she was at work, instead regretting that she was not there to care for them.
"Angie's kids just never went anywhere or did anything," DeParle said. He added that they witnessed street violence while home alone.
Though retired Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania social worker Diana Williamson accepted DeParle's conclusions about the inadequacy of welfare reform, she felt that his presentation was condescending. "There's still an element of patronization in the way he presents these people."
However, Franciska Coleman, a doctoral candidate in the Graduate School of Education, echoed DeParle's discontent. "The whole idea of taking the parents and forcing them to work, where every school reformer says they have to be involved is just counterintuitive. ... Welfare to Work is about efficiency and making the middle and upper classes feel good about where their tax dollars are going."
DeParle spoke as part of the "Equity, Access and Race" lecture series, co-sponsored by the Annenberg School for Communication, the School of Social Work and the Graduate School of Education.
