Transcript Welfare2011Part1

Changes in Family and Sex Roles
in Twentieth Century America
Part 1. The Family and the Welfare State
Part 2. New Definitions of Family and Sex
Roles
The Family and the Welfare State
The Family and the Welfare State
• Who takes care of people when they are
“dependent” -- that is unable to take care of
themselves because of age (children or the
elderly), sick, disabled, unable to find work
(unemployed)?
• For most of human history, families were the
primary agencies for welfare, supplemented by
charity, religious institutions, and the state.
Traditional Concepts of “Relief”
• Indoor or Outdoor:
– Indoor Relief: Institutions, e.g., almshouses,
workhouses, hospitals, orphanages
– Outdoor Relief: Donations of food, clothing, cash or
other resources for people to take ‘home’
• Deserving vs. Undeserving Poor
– The deserving poor can expect “relief”
– The undeserving poor need to be forced back to work
Status and Security
• In ancient and pre modern societies, one’s
guarantee of “security” was defined by
social and family status, as lord, free
person, slave, serf, etc., or family member.
• In modern societies based upon
individualism and “free enterprise,” the
claim for “freedom” and “liberty” also
attenuates claims for “security.”
Old and New Types of Crises
• Old crises: war, famine, disease, natural
disasters
• Industrial Capitalism adds a new type of
economic crisis: the panic, stock market
crash, recession, depression, when the
economy collapses temporarily.
Capitalist Economic Crises
• Occurred roughly every 20 years, with increasing
intensity:
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1819
1837
1857
1873-77
1893-97
1907
1929-1941
The Great Depression, 1929-1941
Impact of the Great Depression
• Quarter of the Labor Force Unemployed by 1933,
and remained at 10-15% til 1941.
• 25% decline in prices and GDP by 1932.
• Housing Market collapsed.
• Vast Amount of Liquid Wealth Destroyed in
Market Crash
• 1932: Repudiation of the government of Herbert
Hoover, and election of Franklin Roosevelt who
promised a “New Deal”
Relevance for Family and Sex Roles
• Recognition that families, local government, and
private charity could not provide “welfare” in time
of crisis
• A new “radical” change? The national government
took on the responsibility.
• Or a “conservative” legislative agenda to assure
“traditional” economic, family and property
relationships.
• ….Or both….
The Cornerstone of the New System:
Social Security Act of 1935
• Providing Benefits to the “Deserving:”
– BOASI: Bureau of Old Age and Survivors
Insurance
– Unemployment Insurance
– Aid to the Blind, Deaf, and Disabled
– Aid to Families of Dependent Children
(Mothers’ Pensions)
The Elements of the New System:
Social Security Act of 1935
• BOASI: Bureau of Old Age and Survivors
Insurance
– Federally run
– Tax on employers and employees to pay for old age
pensions
– “Survivors,” children and spouses, can draw benefits
from worker’s account
– No benefits unless one has worked a sufficient number
of “quarters
– Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for indigent
elderly
The Elements of the New System:
Social Security Act of 1935
• Unemployment Insurance
– State administered program with federal
support
– Tax on employer (and sometimes employees) to
support program
– Time limited benefit while employee is laid off
and/or searching for a new job
The Elements of the New System:
Social Security Act of 1935
• Aid to the Blind, Deaf, and Disabled
– Federally run program to provide benefits to
disabled
– Uses the BOASI model
– A small program
The Elements of the New System:
Social Security Act of 1935
• Aid to Families of Dependent Children
(Mothers’ Pensions)
– Locally administered program to provide
benefits to women with children but without
husbands
– Benefits vary greatly by locale and are very
small
Additional Provisions of the Welfare
State, 1930s and 1940s
• Work Relief Programs: e.g., Works Progress
Administration, Public Works Administration (ended
during World War II)
• Support for Housing Industry, Homeowners and Renters:
– Federal Housing Administration and Veterans
Administration mortgage guarantees;
– Public Housing (begun in 1930s and 1940s)
• Tax policy:
– Withholding extended to wage earning population
during World War II
– Income tax deductions for dependents
– Mortgage interest deductions