Feminist Theory and Social Policy or Why Is Welfare so Hard to Reform?

The perspective of women's studies, especially as developed by Nancy Chodorow (The Reproduction of Mothering, Berkeley, Calif: U of California Press, 1978) & Nancy C. M. Hartsock (Money, Sex and Power: Toward a Feminist Historical Materialism, New York: Longman, Inc, 1983), is applied to the problem of the difficulty of welfare reform originally raised by Henry J. Aaron (Why Is Welfare So Hard to Reform? Washington, DC: The Brookings Instit, 1973). The history of US welfare policies is traced; these policies account for the differential treatment of women in the welfare system & the failure of work strategies to increase poor women's economic independence. Flaws in welfare reform proposals are discussed, & suggestions made for developing new models of policy analysis. 53 References. Modified HA