Stigma and the welfare mother: How history continues to haunt social welfare policies in the United States

Throughout history, social policies and programs, such as welfare, were designed to help Americans improve their lives and prosper as productive workers, family providers, and citizens. Despite such noble efforts, however, these programs have suffered in terms of inconsistent implementation, resistance by potential beneficiaries, and a general lack of support from the populace. Even when programs are available, there is often stigma attached, resulting in an impoverished and unhealthy status quo. This elicits several questions that will be addressed in the presentation about the state of welfare and public assistance programs, specifically for single mothers who are arguably in the most need of assistance. Who avails themselves to subsidies and assistance programs? What associations exist between the history of gender disparity, race relations, or economic variability and the supply and demand of public assistance programs? Why is there such animosity and resistance toward these programs? How does the inherent stigma affect those parties that the programs are meant to assist? Three specific points of historical stigma towards single mothers will be explored, beginning with Mother's Pensions in 1911, to the inception of Aid to Dependent Families as part of the New Deal in 1935, and rounded out by Welfare Reform in 1996. Drawing upon the lessons of these three initiatives, the current stigma surrounding single mothers will be explored and contextualized within the ecological and human rights framework.