Low-income residents select free bread and produce at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey on August 28, 2015, in Egg Harbor, New Jersey.

The Unintended Consequences of Welfare Reform

The Leonard Lopate Show | Sep 25, 2015

Next year marks the 20th anniversary of welfare reform, one of President Bill Clinton's signature achievements. Virginia Sole-Smith explains what "ending welfare as we know it" has actually meant for lower income Americans. She spent a year following women on public assistance. Her article “Getting Jobbed: The Real Face of Welfare Reform” is in the October issue of Harper’s Magazine.

"We have always been suspect of people needing help," says @v_solesmith, about welfare. http://t.co/WRWvVw7Osk
— Leonard Lopate (@LeonardLopate) September 28, 2015

@LeonardLopate I was working for Congress at this time for Rep Conyers trying to defend welfare from attacks by Clinton & Repubs. Yes, both.
— Antonia Juhasz (@AntoniaJuhasz) September 28, 2015

Welfare recipients have 90 days to find a job in Pennsylvania. People with unemployment benefits have 26 weeks to find a job.
— Leonard Lopate (@LeonardLopate) September 28, 2015

"The welfare system is set up to actively discourage education" says @v_solesmith http://t.co/WRWvVw7Osk
— Leonard Lopate (@LeonardLopate) September 28, 2015

One correction from my @LeonardLopate interview: TANF recipients are 34.7% white, 34.5% black. So much for the #welfarequeen stereotype.
— Virginia Sole-Smith (@v_solesmith) September 28, 2015

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