Welfare Rights
Welfare Rights
- David StoeszDavid StoeszUniversity of Illinois, Springfield
- , and Catherine BornCatherine BornUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore
Summary
American social and economic justice advocates, social workers included, have struggled to establish a national mindset that welfare is a right, a duty owed to the people by government, not a privilege that can be revoked at will. Industrialized nations with a universalistic, rights-based philosophy have strived to provide citizens with some measure of a basic, minimum income; the United States has not, yet. The United States has been hobbled by ideology; a two-tier system consisting of assistance and insurance; and cultural misgivings about direct, ongoing public payments (welfare) to the poor. Revitalization of a national welfare rights movement, early signals from the Biden administration, and awareness that major social policy changes most often happen at times of crisis offer reasons for a degree of optimism. The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath are a moment in time—an inflection point—when social workers, because of their training, ethical codes, skill sets, and appreciation of the lessons of social welfare history, could play a key role in charting a new course of action suited to 21st-century needs and realities.
Subjects
- Macro Practice
- Policy and Advocacy
- Poverty
- Social Justice and Human Rights
Updated in this version
Content and references updated for the Encyclopedia of Macro Social Work.