Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results

“Welfare: The Best of Intentions, the Worst of Results,” Atlantic, August 1971.

Excerpt:

Is it surprising, then, that — unmanned and demoralized — he removes himself from family responsibilities that no longer rest on his shoulders? That he drifts out of his home — or is even pushed out of his home — into the male street-corner society of the slum? One wonders how many white middle-class families would survive if mother and children were guaranteed the father’s income (or more) without the father’s presence? And how many white middle-class fathers would, under these circumstances, persist at their not-always-interesting jobs?

Online:
The Atlantic