Flat Broke with Children: Women in the Age of Welfare Reform,   ISBN:9780195176018

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Book arrived in a timely fashion, just as described. Very happy with the condition of the book and how smoothly the transaction went.

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This is a very well written study of the realities of welfare in the United States that thoughtfully considers the values behind our policies and approaches to the poor, specifically welfare mothers, whose first-hand accounts, along with those of welfare case workers, feature prominently in her study without making it anecdotal like Nickel and Dimed.

Hays convincingly shows welfare reform of the 1990s was wrongheaded and generally ineffective because it was aimed "correcting" the poor in various capacities without adequately engage the underlying causes of their poverty.

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This book is extremely informative in the area of welfare reform. I learned a great deal about the current state of the welfare system in the United States. Hays backs up her information with citations and examples, and the book contains many helpful personal anecdotes from welfare recipients themselves. I can't help but notice, however, that the author seems to look unfavorably upon welfare reform.

Although I have since returned this book to the library and cannot directly quote from it, I can point out several instances where Hays implies that welfare reform and restrictions are unnecessary and harmful to welfare recipients. She laments the situation of the single mothers who must pay to have their children cared for by professionals instead of looked after by friends or family members. Hays also seems to dislike the practice of requiring welfare recipients (who are not presently caring for an infant under 18 months of age) to work in order to receive welfare benefits. One is required to start actively searching for a job in order to be on welfare. If a job is not found within a month or two, one is given work for the municipal government or the welfare office. Hays seemed most annoyed that, if one must work for the welfare office, one is not paid a salary in addition to one's welfare benefits. I, however, consider the welfare benefits to be payment in exchange for working at the welfare office. The point of welfare reform was, among other things, to prevent people from getting something for nothing.

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I am very disappointed to find out that this site was trying to sell an item that was not in stock. Even thought i got the reimbursement from Amazon.com, i wasted many days waiting for the book. Some of my assignments were not done because i trusted this site.

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I picked up this book to do a research paper on the topic of welfare reform. This book has been both enlightening and frightening in its information and the arguments put forth by the author. The research is amazingly thorough and well documented throughout the text. Hays points out many contradictions concerning the goals set forth by the Personal Responsibility Act.

The bottom line is that we are living in a society that is still grossly unequal in terms of sex, race, and class. I especially appreciated the realism that the ideals and provisions of welfare reform fall far below any sort of real hope of mobility in terms of the demands of an evolving global market place.

This book is not just about welfare reform; it is indicative of a society that we are becoming - one that undermines the care of our nation's children and welfare for struggling families and most especially the plight of single mothers.