From Innocent Children to Unwanted Migrants and Unwed Moms: Two Chapters in the Public Discourse on Welfare in the United States, 1960-1961

• Published in: Journal of women's history 2000, Vol.11 (4), p.10-33
• Main Author: Levenstein, Lisa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aid to Families with Dependent Children - economics; Aid to Families with Dependent Children - ethics; Aid to Families with Dependent Children - history; Aid to Families with Dependent Children - legislation & jurisprudence; Black people; Child welfare; Children; Constructivism; Discourse; Discrimination; Emigration and Immigration - history; Funding; History of medicine; History, 20th Century; Illegitimacy - economics; Illegitimacy - ethnology; Illegitimacy - history; Illegitimacy - prevention & control; Legislation; Louisiana; Migrants; Minority & ethnic groups; New York; Poverty - ethics; Poverty - ethnology; Poverty - history; Poverty - prevention & control; Poverty - psychology; Public Opinion; Public policy; Racial discrimination; Racism; Single Mothers; Social services; Social Welfare - classification; Social Welfare - economics; Social Welfare - ethics; Social Welfare - ethnology; Social Welfare - history; Social Welfare - legislation & jurisprudence; Social Welfare - psychology; Social Work - classification; Social Work - economics; Social Work - ethics; Social Work - history; Social Work - legislation & jurisprudence; Substance abuse treatment; U.S.A; United States; Unmarried mothers; Unmarried persons; Welfare; Welfare Policy; Welfare Reform; Welfare Services; Welfare state
• ISSN: 1042-7961; 1527-2036; 1527-2036
• DOI: 10.1353/jowh.2000.0009

In June 1961, a stringent set of welfare cutbacks in Newburgh, NY, received widespread public support & incited a racist backlash against welfare throughout the nation. Less than 1 year earlier, however, an even harsher set of cutbacks aimed specifically at black recipients of Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) in LA provoked a mainly critical public response. How the rhetorical framing & historical context of these two sets of cutbacks shaped the divergent public reactions to them is illustrated. In 1960, many northerners sympathetically described ADC in LA as "child aid," a grant targeting poor black children in the civil rights-torn South. In the Newburgh case, however, ADC was referred to as "unwed mother aid," a grant supporting the supposedly lazy & luxurious lifestyles of African American women who migrated to the North. By examining the language & issues of these cutbacks, a crucial moment in the evolution of contemporary antiwelfare discourse is revealed. Adapted from the source document.