Welfare Realities

Mary Jo Bane is Thornton Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy and Management at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. David T. Ellwood is Academic Dean and Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Avoiding rhetorical excess and narrow partisanship, Ms. Bane and Mr. Ellwood criticize both sides in the current welfare debate, those who grow censorious about welfare cheating as well as those who grow starry-eyed about welfare rights. Exemplary in [its] moderation, Bane and Ellwood[’s]…book is about why welfare is such a tough nut for the most adroit ‘policy wonk’ to crack.

• Preface * The Context for Welfare Reform Thomas J. Kane and Mary Jo Bane * Understanding Welfare Dynamics David T. Ellwood and Mary Jo Bane * Understanding Dependency David T. Ellwood * Increasing Self-Sufficiency by Reforming Welfare Mary Jo Bane * Reducing Poverty by Replacing Welfare David T. Ellwood * Appendix * Notes * References * Index