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  • © 1982

Welfare Reform in America

Perspectives and Prospects

Editors:

Part of the book series: Middlebury Conference Series on Economic Issues (MCSEI)

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
  2. Political Economy of Welfare Reform

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Welfare Reform

      • William P. Albrecht
      Pages 15-28
  3. Benchmarks

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 29-30
    2. The War on Income Poverty

      • Sheldon Danziger, Robert Plotnick
      Pages 31-52
  4. Implications of Current Programs for Reform Proposals

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 99-100
    2. The Role of Food Stamps in Welfare Reforms

      • J. Fred Giertz, Dennis H. Sullivan
      Pages 101-122
    3. The AFDC-Unemployed Fathers Program

      • James R. Hosek
      Pages 141-164
  5. Evaluating Next Steps

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 165-166
    2. The Evolution of the Work Issue in Welfare Reform

      • Larry L. Orr, Felicity Skidmore
      Pages 167-186
    3. Direct Job Creation

      • Robert H. Haveman
      Pages 187-208
    4. The Effect of a Negative Income Tax on Work Effort

      • Robert A. Moffitt
      Pages 209-229
  6. Back Matter

    Pages 253-254

About this book

This is the second in a series of books growing out of the annual Mid­ dlebury College Conference on Economic Issues. The second confer­ ence, held in April 1980, focused on goals and realities of welfare reform. The objectives of the conference were threefold: (1) evaluation of the antipoverty effort so far; (2) discussion of welfare reform alternatives; and (3) prediction of how new initiatives would change work behavior and productivity. During the time this country has been engaged in a "war on poverty," two massive efforts to reform welfare, Richard M. Nixon's Family As­ sistance Plan (FAP) and Jimmy Carter's Program for Better Jobs and Income (PBJI), were proposed. Both defined national benefit levels and featured a negative income tax. Both measures were defeated in Congress. More modest efforts at reform have, however, changed the economic landscape. Because of the rapid growth in cash and in-kind transfer programs, income poverty is no longer the serious problem that it was in 1964. In fact, looking at the proliferation of programs and the substantial surge in participation rates, some politicians have even advocated a period of government retrenchment. In 1971, the governor of California vii viii INTRODUCTION proposed (and implemented) a major welfare reform in an attempt to stem the rapid growth of welfare caseloads that began in his state in 1967-68. He argued that savings from administrative improvements could be used to raise benefits for the "truly needy.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Economics, Middlebury College, Middlebury, USA

    Paul M. Sommers

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Welfare Reform in America

  • Book Subtitle: Perspectives and Prospects

  • Editors: Paul M. Sommers

  • Series Title: Middlebury Conference Series on Economic Issues

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7389-3

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Kluwer Nijhoff Publishing 1982

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-89838-079-8Published: 31 March 1982

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-009-7391-6Published: 06 November 2011

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-009-7389-3Published: 09 April 2013

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: X, 254

  • Topics: Economics, general

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access