Once again, America is getting tough on welfare. Democrats and Republicans at both the national and state levels seem to have agreed that paying public funds to the poor-particularly to single mothers and their children-perpetuates dependency and undermines self-sufficiency and the work ethic. In this book Joel Handler, a national expert on welfare, points out the fallacies in the current proposals for welfare reform, arguing that they merely recycle old remedies that have not worked. He analyzes the prejudice that has historically existed against "the undeserving poor" and shows that the...

Current welfare reforms-including recently enacted federal legislation-are largely symbolic politics, argue two experts in this important new book. According to Joel F. Handler and Yeheskel Hasenfeld, the real problem we face is not the spread of welfare but the spread of poverty among the working poor, a group that includes most welfare recipients. The surest way to solve the problem is to create jobs and supplement low-wage work. The authors offer proposals that would make it possible for individuals to support themselves and their families through working and that would establish a safety...

Comparing welfare policies in the U.S. and Western Europe aimed at the "workless" population, this study notes that the European labor policies of welfare services offer the best method of bringing the socially excluded back into mainstream society. Despite differences in ideology and practice, Joel Handler argues that there are also significant similarities between the U.S. and the Europeans, especially in field-level practices that serve to exclude the most vulnerable. The author examines strategies for reform and concludes with an argument for a basic income guarantee.

With the passage of the 1996 welfare reform, not only welfare, but poverty and inequality have disappeared from the political discourse. The decline in the welfare rolls has been hailed as a success. This book challenges that assumption. It argues that while many single mothers left welfare, they have joined the working poor, and fail to make a decent living. The book examines the persistent demonization of poor single-mother families; the impact of the low-wage market on perpetuating poverty and inequality; and the role of the welfare bureaucracy in defining deserving and undeserving poor....

With the passage of the 1996 welfare reform, not only welfare, but poverty and inequality have disappeared from the political discourse. The decline in the welfare rolls has been hailed as a success. This book challenges that assumption. It argues that while many single mothers left welfare, they have joined the working poor, and fail to make a decent living. The book examines the persistent demonization of poor single-mother families; the impact of the low-wage market on perpetuating poverty and inequality; and the role of the welfare bureaucracy in defining deserving and undeserving poor....

An in-depth view of the world of low-wage women workers, this expert presentation by authors actively involved in the field provides a realistic picture of the women and the issues as well as suggested strategies and innovations. The book covers a wide range of topics, including getting and keeping a job, struggling to balance the demands of work and family, health care, child care, and unemployment. It is set in the context of both welfare reform and the low-wage labor market and incorporates both self-employment and micro-business enterprise.

An in-depth view of the world of low-wage women workers, this expert presentation by authors actively involved in the field provides a realistic picture of the women and the issues as well as suggested strategies and innovations. The book covers a wide range of topics, including getting and keeping a job, struggling to balance the demands of work and family, health care, child care, and unemployment. It is set in the context of both welfare reform and the low-wage labor market and incorporates both self-employment and micro-business enterprise.

Now in its 2010 paperback edition with a new Foreword, this enduring analysis of law and organizations that change the community--the core relationship between citizen and state--takes aim at real problems in the modern system. A recognized socio-legal classic, first published by Penn Press in 1990, studies the problem of law and community targeted at specific problems that still resonate: health care, medical consent, pollution, special education, and care for the elderly and poor. Handler considers not only theories of justice and process, but also their real applications to people caught...