Does Welfare Cause Dependency?
• States with higher welfare payments didn’t have significantly higher ratios of people on welfare. • Wilson argues that each state has its own culture and other influences that can explain this lack of a difference. • Argues that w/out welfare there would be fewer out of wedlock births. • Jobs and Stigma • Presents a possible explanation that with fewer jobs available, there are fewer marriageable men and therefore a higher need for welfare. • Alternatively it may be related to and Wilson proposes likely that the stigma surrounding welfare has fallen dramatically. • Argues that the decline of stigma can be seen in how quickly people leave welfare in rural areas as opposed to urban areas. • Welfare payments are more common in urban areas, so there is less social pressure to get off of it. Ch. 7 Divorce • What happens to the children? • Previously children would go to the father by default in the case of divorce. • Views then shifted towards the mother being the more natural person to n
