{"id":3273,"date":"2022-01-24T12:52:15","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T18:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=3273"},"modified":"2022-01-24T12:52:16","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T18:52:16","slug":"mothering-without-a-social-safety-net","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2022\/01\/24\/mothering-without-a-social-safety-net\/","title":{"rendered":"Mothering Without a (Social) Safety Net"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2022\/01\/black-gd1e09f767_1920-1.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2022\/01\/black-gd1e09f767_1920-1-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3276\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2022\/01\/black-gd1e09f767_1920-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2022\/01\/black-gd1e09f767_1920-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2022\/01\/black-gd1e09f767_1920-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2022\/01\/black-gd1e09f767_1920-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2022\/01\/black-gd1e09f767_1920-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption><em>A mother holds an infant in front of a set of curtains. The room is dark but there is light and the shadows of trees beyond the curtains. Image via pixabay, <a href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/service\/license\/\">Pixabay License<\/a><\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The new Netflix show, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tGtaHcqsSE8\" data-rel=\"lightbox-video-0\"><em>Maid<\/em><\/a>, based on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hachettebooks.com\/titles\/stephanie-land\/maid\/9780316505116\/\">best-selling memoir<\/a> by Stephanie Land, chronicles a mother\u2019s journey out of domestic violence and towards safety. The story offers an intimate portrait of the many barriers facing impoverished mothers, including the never-ending obstacles in securing government assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sociological research has consistently found that the welfare system inadequately serves the poor. From red tape to contradictory policies, accessing government assistance is notoriously difficult to navigate. Further, welfare is highly stigmatized in the United States with shame and coercion baked into its process.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to gendered expectations of parenting, mothers face increased scrutiny about their children\u2019s well being. In particular, mothers of low socioeconomic status are often harshly judged for their parenting without consideration of the structural inequities they face. Mothers seeking assistance from the welfare system are often judged because of cultural stereotypes about motherhood, poverty, and government assistance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.fas.harvard.edu\/people\/sarah-caitlin-halpern-meekin\">Sarah Halpern-Meekin<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.princeton.edu\/people\/kathryn-edin\">Kathryn Edin<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.cornell.edu\/laura-tach\">Laura Tach<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.fas.harvard.edu\/people\/jennifer-skyes\">Jennifer Sykes<\/a>. 2015. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucpress.edu\/book\/9780520275355\/its-not-like-im-poor\"><em>It\u2019s Not like I\u2019m Poor: How Working Families Make Ends Meet in a Post-Welfare World<\/em><\/a>. Oakland, California: University of California Press.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jsu.edu\/sociology\/turgeon_home_page.html\">Brianna Turgeon<\/a>. 2020. <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/soin.12332\">\u201cWhen \u2018Best I Can\u2019 Is Not Enough: Welfare Managers\u2019 Appraisal of Clients\u2019 Mothering Practices.\u201d<\/a> Sociological Inquiry 90(4):839\u201366.\u00a0<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jsu.edu\/sociology\/turgeon_home_page.html\">Brianna Turgeon<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uwyo.edu\/sociology\/faculty-and-staff\/sociology-kaitlyn-root-adjunct.html\">Kaitlyn Root<\/a>. 2019. \u201cWelfare Mothers in the United States.\u201d in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Motherhood\/Hallstein-OReilly-Giles\/p\/book\/9781032085593\"><em>The Routledge Companion to Motherhood<\/em><\/a>. Routledge.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.melodywaring.com\/\">Melody K. Waring<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irp.wisc.edu\/staff\/meyer-daniel\/\">Daniel R. Meyer<\/a>. 2020. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0190740919308254?via%3Dihub\">\u201cWelfare, Work, and Single Mothers: The Great Recession and Income Packaging Strategies.\u201d<\/a> Children and Youth Services Review 108:104585.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The U.S. welfare system has been a contentious subject for decades with public perceptions of poverty influencing the social safety net. The derogatory infamous image of the \u201cwelfare queen\u201d \u2013 an allegedly lazy or irresponsible woman who exploits government programs \u2013 demonstrates how racist images of poverty and motherhood directly impacted policy making. This body of work takes a historical perspective on welfare and motherhood to consider how gender and racial stereotypes influence public policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/cf\/faculty-and-staff\/faculty.cfm?pid=1020016\">Ange-Marie Hancock<\/a>. 2004. <a href=\"https:\/\/nyupress.org\/9780814736708\/the-politics-of-disgust\/\"><em>The Politics of Disgust: The Public Identity of the Welfare Queen<\/em><\/a>. New York: NYU Press.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/history.house.gov\/Oral-History\/Women\/Gwendolyn-Mink\/\">Gwendolyn Mink<\/a>. 2018. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cornellpress.cornell.edu\/book\/9780801495342\/the-wages-of-motherhood\/#bookTabs=1\"><em>The Wages of Motherhood: Inequality in the Welfare State, 1917\u20131942<\/em><\/a>. Cornell University Press.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.ucr.edu\/faculty\/ellen-reese\/\">Ellen Reese<\/a>. 2005. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucpress.edu\/book\/9780520244627\/backlash-against-welfare-mothers\"><em>Backlash against Welfare Mothers: Past and Present<\/em><\/a>. Berkeley: University of California Press.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.fas.harvard.edu\/people\/theda-skocpol\">Theda Skocpol<\/a>. 1996. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/catalog.php?isbn=9780674717664\"><em>Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States<\/em><\/a>. 1. Aufl., 4. Druck. Harvard: Harvard University Press.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhh.umn.edu\/directory\/joe-soss\">Joe Soss<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/rcfording.com\/\">Richard C. Fording<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/urban.hunter.cuny.edu\/~schram\/\">Sanford F. Schram<\/a>. 2011. <a href=\"https:\/\/press.uchicago.edu\/ucp\/books\/book\/chicago\/D\/bo12120768.html\"><em>Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberal Paternalism and the Persistent Power of Race<\/em><\/a>. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Much research directly contradicts the welfare queen trope, showing instead how impoverished families have fallen through the cracks of the welfare system. This work&nbsp; highlights the astounding income inequality in the contemporary United States and the resourcefulness and resiliency of impoverished families and individuals and their struggle to survive on little-to-no resources.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/soc.jhu.edu\/directory\/stefanie-a-deluca\/\">Stefanie DeLuca<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sju.edu\/faculty\/susan-clampet-lundquist\">Susan Clampet-Lundquist<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.princeton.edu\/people\/kathryn-edin\">Kathryn Edin<\/a>. 2016. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.russellsage.org\/publications\/coming-age-other-america\"><em>Coming of Age in the Other America<\/em><\/a>. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.princeton.edu\/people\/kathryn-edin\">Kathryn Edin<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/ssw.umich.edu\/faculty\/profiles\/tenure-track\/lshaefer\">H. Luke Shaefer<\/a>. 2016. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twodollarsaday.com\/\"><em>$2.00 a Day Living on Almost Nothing in America<\/em>.<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new Netflix show, Maid, based on the best-selling memoir by Stephanie Land, chronicles a mother\u2019s journey out of domestic violence and towards safety. The story offers an intimate portrait of the many barriers facing impoverished mothers, including the never-ending obstacles in securing government assistance. Sociological research has consistently found that the welfare system inadequately [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2106,"featured_media":3277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,13,85,14],"tags":[8959,135984,105356,38541,3109,119,43038,135983,116128,151,135985],"class_list":["post-3273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender","category-inequality","category-politics","category-race","tag-families","tag-families-in-poverty","tag-government-assistance","tag-inequality","tag-motherhood","tag-poverty","tag-shame","tag-single-motherhood","tag-social-safety-net","tag-welfare","tag-welfare-queen"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2022\/01\/black-gd1e09f767_1920-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3273"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3278,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3273\/revisions\/3278"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}