Late post about welfare

(I realized I had this typed up but forgot to post it before class).

In her article criticizing the enactment of the Personal Responsibility Act, Gwendolyn Mink provides a strong argument about the injustice against poor mothers who have been overlooked by privileged white feminists and undervalued by larger society. Poor single mothers are, according to Mink, pushed into a new caste and punished by the government through being forced to work outside the home.

I agree that the unpaid work of mothers should be given more value and recognition than it currently receives. This is true regardless of socio-economic status, because mothers of all classes and races carry burdens that are not only unrecognized and definitely unpaid. Mink argues that poor women are entitled to welfare as a basic right. While it’s easy to agree that women’s work is worth money, it’s hard to move from that abstract idea and value to enacting legislation to support that theory with tax dollars extracted from voters. While lawmakers and the public might agree that “what (some) domestic others do is not to pass time but work” the problem is the challenge of “policymakers to give poor mothers’ care giving work the dignity it is due by providing it an income”. (Mink 62). Is it the state’s obligation to provide financial support for women? The problem is that in a capitalist society, moral values are not always given fiscal reward. Such a universal welfare policy would be incredibly contentious and difficult to enact. Given the disagreement over the recent health care reform and the polarization between liberals and conservatives, I don’t think a welfare policy like what Mink suggests has much hope.

One way I think the government can address the economic disenfranchisement of caregivers is to make family planning and birth control available. Many poor women and men lack knowledge of birth control methods and the financial resources to acquire them. I think the birth control pill should be available over the counter, which would reduce the cost and difficulty of acquiring it because it would not require a visit to a doctor. If women had the knowledge and resources to make motherhood a choice in the first place, they would be able to enter into parenthood when they are financially stable and desire raising children.