Douglas Besharov discusses his hopes for Obama's presidency.
Douglas Besharov discusses his hopes for Obama's presidency.
Welfare reform has done fairly well for a historic change in policy, but not good enough for us to be even close to satisfied.
Universal pre-K is caught in the midst of middle-class and interest-group politics. As usual, the most disadvantaged children may lose out.
AEI Online
January 9, 2008
Six principles should be considered for a sensitive and conservative approach to social policy.
Six principles should be considered for a sensitive and conservative approach to social policy.
As a group, Hispanics are enjoying substantial economic progress.
AEI Online
September 27, 2007
Today's official poverty rate is hardly lower than the 1968 rate, but a closer look at forty years of poverty data tells a more mixed story.
How much does early childhood education really cost?
How does the government measure poverty in America? What are the pros and cons of its methods?
We have made progress in the forty years since the War on Poverty, but we must address more issues to help theAfrican-Americancommunity.
Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee on the benefits of investing in preschool programs.
AEI Online
August 22, 2006
Welfare reform has achieved progress, but much remains to be done.
Although welfare reform reduced welfare dependency, a great deal of dependency is now diffused and hidden within larger social welfare programs.
What is the future of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation?
Why did spending on child care double during 1996-2003?
How would changing the poverty line affect the country's poor?
AEI Online
October 25, 2005
Each year almost a million children pass through the Head Start program without getting the head start on learning they were promised.
Since the early 1980s, the black middle class has hardly grown. The most achievable remedy is to increase the college graduation rate of African Americans.
Lessons for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program's participation requirements.
Welfare Reform Academy
May 1, 2004
The authors stress the importance of career and technical education for students to achieve success after high school graduation.
Welfare Academy
April 21, 2004
The authors analyzes the participation requirements in the House and Senate bills to reauthorizethe Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programand state responses.
New York Times
March 6, 2004
The question of whether there should be more federal aid for child care should be reviewed on its own merits, not under the guise of welfare reform.
Welfare Academy
December 12, 2003
Using vouchers and other forms of bottom-up decision making can help give clients choice and improve services.
USA Today
October 3, 2003
There are better--although less politically salable--uses for the money that would be spent on the higher salaries college graduates command.
National Journal
June 25, 2003
Besharov discusses welfare reform with Josh Kraushaar of National Journal.
Federal feeding programs may be only a small part of the cause of America's growing weight problem, but they urgently need to be part of the cure.
Public Interest
December 22, 2002
Welfare caseloads have fallen sharply, and the percentage of single mothers working has risen dramatically.
Washington Post
December 8, 2002
The poor in America are far more likely to be at risk of death and disease because of overeating than starvation.
The poor in America are far more likely to be at risk of death and disease because of overeating than starvation.
The Washington Post
July 16, 2002
With the landmark 1996 welfare reform law up for reauthorization this year, both Republicans and Democrats are taking credit for the astounding fall in welfare rolls.
Testimony on state implementation of work requirements and time limitsbefore the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Douglas J. Besharov's speech upon being named the first Joseph J. and Violet Jacobs Scholar in Social Welfare Studies at AEI.
The New World of Welfare
January 1, 2001
The Public Interest
June 1, 2000
Besharov and Germanis analyze the results of welfare reform.
The World & I
January 1, 2000
Besharov on the measures of success for welfare reform and the upcoming challenges.
Washington Post
August 1, 1999
Are older Americans sick and poor and in need of assistance from the government?
Washington Post
August 1, 1999
Are older Americans sick and poor and in need of assistance from the government?
New York Times
July 14, 1999
A lower marriage rate does not necessarily mean that young people are forsaking the institution of marriage altogether.
Philanthropy
June 1, 1999
The Public Interest
April 1, 1999
Ku's response to Besharov and Germanis article "Is WIC As Good As They Say?" followed by their reply to Ku.
Washington Post
March 28, 1999
Many school lunch programs don't deliver a meal that kids will eat.
Public Interest
January 1, 1999
Benefits apply only to WIC's prenatal program; the evidence suggests much more modest effects than WIC's boosters claim.
Welfare Reform Academy
January 25, 1998
The author examines how countries reassess their social welfare programs.
The Public Interest
September 1, 1997
Review of What Money Can't Buy by Susan Mayer.
Insight on the News
August 11, 1997
The president and his congressional allies are on the verge of reshaping the welfare law in the image of his original bill.
New York Times
August 5, 1997
Americans have made it clear that they don't want national health insurance.
The Clinton administration has begun to weaken the welfare reform law that alienated many of its supporters.
American Political Science Review
March 1, 1997
Review of The Politics of Child Abuse in America by Lela Costin, Howard Karger, and David Stoesz.
New York Times
January 15, 1997
During the debate over welfare reform, both liberals and conservatives made the new law seem tougher than it really is.
Children and Youth Services Review 19, no. 5/6 (1997): 341-67
January 1, 1997
At least until the last few years, the proportion of teenagers who have had sex rose steadily, and they are more likely to use contraceptives than their earlier counterparts.
Children and Youth Services Review 19, no. 5/6 (1997): 327-39
January 1, 1997
New data may signal the start of a trend towards less sex and more contraceptive use among teenagers.
Washington Post
December 1, 1996
The next time you read about a child's death, don't blame just the caseworker who perhaps did not do everything possible to protect the child.
New York Times
November 13, 1996
If advocates want to give these women a real financial boost, they should admit that the current provision is all but meaningless.
Washington Post
October 13, 1996
Review of Rosa Lee by Leon Dash.
Is an unheeded child-abuse epidemic raging in America?
The Public Interest
October 1, 1996
Welfare reform has traditionally focused on helping single mothers get jobs, but such efforts are expensive and have shown only modest results.
Washington Post
August 11, 1996
This is the first of an occasional series of reading lists tied to issues in the news.
Washington Post
July 21, 1996
What is welfare as we know it?
The New Democrat
July 1, 1996
Even more than their parents, such young people may be the best hope for the future of American race relations.
Los Angeles Times
June 20, 1996
As Bill Clinton and Bob Dole jockey for position as the candidate who is tougher on welfare reform, a larger point has been missed.
Social Science and Modern Society
May 1, 1996
Nonreporting and inappropriate reporting are linked and must be addressed together before further progress can be made in combating child abuse and neglect.
Wall Street Journal
February 28, 1996
AEI Online
February 28, 1996
The disappointing results of three demonstration projects designed to help unwed teenage mothers live self-sufficient lives show the limits of voluntary educational and job training programs.
New York Times
February 1, 1996
In reaction to the death of 6-year-old Elisa Izquierdo, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is revamping the New York City agency that handles child abuse.
Washington Post
January 28, 1996
Review of It Takes a Village by Hillary Rodham Clinton.
AEI Online
January 13, 1996
If addicts' children are to have a fair chance in life, the child-welfare system needs to be governed by tougher laws and an entirely different set of assumptions.
Public Welfare
January 1, 1996
Public Interest
January 1, 1996
After years of denial, most politicians (and welfare policy makers) have finally acknowledged the link between unwed parenthood and long-term welfare dependency, as well as a host of other social problems.
Washington Post
December 3, 1995
It's all right to aim high, but not when it blinds a young person to the reality of her situation, and her actual opportunities for a better life.
Washington Post
November 2, 1995
The Republican-controlled Congress is now in the final stages of producing a welfare reform bill that endssxity years of guaranteed federal financial support to poor mothers and their children.
Washington Post
July 23, 1995
The president's rhetoric has moved the welfare debate sharply to the right, undercutting liberal and moderate support for the status quo.
Washington Post
June 11, 1995
Public Welfare
June 1, 1995
Washington Post
March 12, 1995
Washington Post
January 15, 1995
Review of both Growing Up with a Single Parent, by Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, andTies That Stress: The New Family Imbalance, by David Elkind.
Jobs & Capital
January 1, 1995
New York Times
December 20, 1994
Although the proposal to put poor children into institutional care has become a hot-button issue, there has been little discussion of its practicality and of the effect it would have on poor families.
Washington Post
December 11, 1994
Washington Post
December 11, 1994
There is good reason to hope that the Republicans will free localities from the straightjacket of federal bureaucracy without unreasonably cutting financial support.
Washington Post
October 23, 1994
Washington Post
July 10, 1994
Review of The Homeless by Christopher Jencks.
Washington Post
May 1, 1994
Wall Street Journal
April 27, 1994
Discouraging unwed parenthood requires increasing both the life prospects of disadvantaged teens and the inconvenience of being on welfare.
Wall Street Journal
February 9, 1994
The nation is in the midst of yet another effort to reform the welfare system.
Insight
December 13, 1993
Washington Post
December 12, 1993
Washington Post
October 3, 1993
If Clinton is to maintain control over spending, let alone fund his own domestic initiatives, he will have to impose discipline on Congress by being prepared to veto bills.
Wall Street Journal
September 22, 1993
The federal government isthe biggest health-care sponger of all.
National Review
August 9, 1993
Washington Post
July 4, 1993
Review of Tyranny of Kindness: Dismantling the Welfare System to End Poverty in America, by Theresa Funiciello.
New Republic
June 14, 1993
America's favorite antipoverty program is Head Start, and no one is a bigger fan than Bill Clinton.
Philadelphia Inquirer
May 23, 1993
What can society do to help young mothers?
The Responsive Community
April 1, 1993
The Public Interest
April 1, 1993
Clinton taps into a deeply held feeling among the public and politicians that long-term welfare dependency is a serious and growing social problem.
Orlando Sentinel Tribune
February 21, 1993
Epidemic of teen pregnancy and infection has set off firestorms of debate in school systems across the country.
Governing Magazine
February 1, 1993
Current rash of state welfare cuts is telling evidence that the current system creates perverse incentives that can actually hurt the poor.
Wall Street Journal
January 18, 1993
Alternatives in Philanthropy
May 1, 1992
Review of Marvin Olasky's The Tragedy of American Compassion.
Washington Post
February 2, 1992
Washington Post
January 5, 1992
The World & I
January 1, 1992
New York Times
December 14, 1991
After years of collective worry about decline, incompetence and ignorance, there is a renewed feeling that Americans can, after all, do things right.
Subcommittee on Human Resources
April 5, 1990
Public Welfare
January 1, 1990
St. Petersburg Times
September 3, 1989
Newsday
September 3, 1989
The Philadelphia Inquirer
August 20, 1989
Most fail to recognize the deeper struggle taking place over the balance of power between Congress and the President.
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