Original Body
pstrong Women at statewide Community Dialogues Demand that Mothers’ Work Count in Welfare Reform/strong/p
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pby Ruth Todasco/p
pAt community dialogues on IWelfare "Reform" Reauthorization and Valuing Caring Work/iheld across the country in July, a new grassroots women’s welfare movement announced itself. Women spoke out demanding “Mothering is real work, we want real wages!” and “We want the choice to raise our own children” and spoke against the ravages of welfare “reform”. Welfare mothers, grandmothers, other caregivers, former recipients, women not on welfare and even a few welfare workers were in fight-back mode, expressing excitement and relief that welfare “reform” was finally being challenged on the basis that Imothers are already working/i. A wide variety of women—young and old, mainly but not only of color, many who are disabled or whose children are disabled, lesbian and immigrant —opposed being forced to either leave their children for any low-wage work or be dependent on a man. /p
pThe community dialogues held in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco were called for by the Every Mother is a Working Mother Network—a multi-racial, grassroots network campaigning for the work of raising children and other caring work to be recognized as work, and for the quantity of work that mothers do and its economic value to be reflected in mothers’ right to welfare and other benefits. An all-volunteer activist network that began in LA in 1997—where it succeeded in getting LA County to spend $74 million for an after-school program to meet the childcare needs of mothers forced out to work – EMWM has grown into a national network./p
pThe dialogues focused on the 1996 law that replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with a ”work first” program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), and destroyed welfare as a right and entitlement. “Hundreds of thousands of mothers have been forced to leave children as young as six weeks for 20-32 hours of work each week, almost always at low wages with few benefits,” according to Margaret Prescod of EMWM in LA, who is also with International Black Women for Wages for Housework. “As the majority of women now on welfare are Black and Latina, welfare ‘reform’ is a racist attack and promotes a racist tradition,“ said Prescod. Asian and Latina women at the dialogues underscored how immigrants are denied benefits. /p
pWhile politicians brag of success by pointing to lower welfare rolls, more money is spent on welfare reform than on welfare. But now it goes to profit-making companies administering programs instead of to women raising children. Many women have simply dropped off the economic radar and are homeless, or living with relatives or friends, or have been driven to crimes of poverty to survive. For those who have found paid work, the average post-welfare wage is $6.75/hour and their health is destroyed by overwork and lack of benefits, according to one participant. The 60-month lifetime limit on benefits will leave mothers and children with nothing when their clock stops, which for those who were on welfare in 1996 will happen very soon. /p
pCongress has until September 30, 2002 to review TANF. EMWM and supporters are using this opportunity to press for fundamental changes. Congressional hearings once again are excluding testimony on the caring work of mothers. The dialogues heard heartrending stories from over 100 mothers who were angry and frustrated at being ignored, which highlights the urgency to take action against overwork, exhaustion and poverty. The many tears that were shed didn’t hide the women’s determination to be heard, and to confront politicians, Democrats and Republicans alike, as well as non-profit groups that refuse to challenge them. /p
p “We are tired of those so-called ‘advocates’ who are supposed to represent us, instead of selling us down the river, because basically they agree with the government that mothers need to go out and get a ‘real’ job,” said Pat Albright, a former welfare recipient and single mother of EMWM in Philadelphia. The dialogues distinguished themselves from other forums on welfare by having mothers speaking for themselves about how they have been affected. EMWM will submit women’s testimony “reform” to Congress./p
pWomen said they were treated like they had committed a crime during home visits by welfare workers. A Latina mother related the shock of being wrongfully terminated with little notice. A Black grandmother lost payment for the care of four grandchildren but is fighting on. Older women said that after a lifetime of caring for children, they are now counted on to take care of grandchildren and great-grandchildren so that their daughters can take on waged employment. One mother said she had to risk leaving her children at home alone, because she could not afford childcare and had no grandmother to help. Teenage mothers spoke about being put down and deprived of resources. Lesbian mothers spoke about being forced to name the father and sue him for child support —and the welfare department keeps most of the money. A woman from Wages Due Lesbians and a woman who works in a domestic violence shelter both said welfare reform is pushing marriage and financial dependence on men as the solution for women's poverty, putting women at risk of violence. /p
pRousing victories were also shared about winning benefits wrongfully denied./p
pA childcare worker saw children becoming more attached to her than to their own mothers. "There's more to being a mother than paying the bills and saying, ‘I got a check today,’" she said. Welfare ”reform” treats caregivers like “interchangeable parts”, with no recognition of the unique relationship between each caregiver and each child, beginning with mothers themselves, said a woman from WinVisible, women with visible and invisible disabilities. Mothers of children with disabilities or serious illnesses are made to work 30 hours outside the home, although they are supposed to be exempt under the law. A former breast-feeding advocate now on welfare spoke of the pain of separation from infants and how welfare reform flies in the face of the American Pediatrics Association recommendation for one year minimum of breastfeeding. /p
pA Black mother described her degrading treatment at the welfare office, adding that the race of the workers didn’t matter: they all treated welfare moms badly. A welfare worker revealed that many workers deny information to recipients and say they don’t want to be near “them”. A Black woman called the government ”baby snatchers”, paying agencies to take children away. She lost her child by asking too many questions./p
pFormer prisoners said they were denied welfare for a felony drug conviction and imprisoned mothers risked permanently losing their children. “Prisons are a big business, you can bet there is a plan in place to fill them. Nobody in my neighborhood has planes bringing in drugs from overseas,” one mom said. Women of color, mostly mothers, are the fastest-growing prison population, growth fueled by welfare reform./p
pYoung people described the pain of watching their mothers struggle. A Black woman spoke in tears of trying to feed her family on $20 a week, and said she would do anything to make sure there is food on the table. A nurse spoke about the price your children pay because you don’t have the time, energy or patience to meet their needs, or your own. The New York Times reported on July 31 that welfare reform has had a consistently negative impact on adolescent children, in all studies that have been done./p
pMen, including young Latino, Black and Asian men, helped with the event and spoke out in support of caring work being valued —women’s and their own. A national labor organizer said welfare reform has brought down everyone’s wages, especially women’s. Some participants said that while money is taken from women and children, billions are being spent for the military including “Star Wars” and military intervention in countries of the Global South to protect US-based multinationals./p
pThe grassroots movement to value caring work is continuing to gain momentum. Pressed by the International Women Count Network, the UN agreed in 1995 that governments should measure and value unwaged work in national economic accounts. The Wall Street Journal reported that a mother’s “multi-tasking” is worth $500,000 a year. In many countries women get a “family allowance”. But the US —the world’s richest country—has no allowance or paid maternity leave. Women’s unwaged caring work is valued at $11 trillion worldwide, according to the UN. /p
pNext steps by EMWM include “teach-ins” in the fall, as well as plans to be part of the 3rd Global Women’s Strike on March 8, 2002 whose first demand is “Payment for all caring work”. /p
pBy Ruth Todasco/p
pPlease contact: Every Mother Is a Working Mother Network:br /
br /Los Angeles: PO Box 86681, LA, CA 90086 323-292-7405 phone faxbr /
br /San Francisco: PO Box 14512 SF, CA 94114 415-626-4114 phone faxbr /
br /Philadelphia: PO Box 11795 Philadelphia, PA 19101 215-848-1120 phone; 215-848-1130 faxbr /
br /Email: West Coast a href="mailto:70742.3012@compuserve.com"70742.3012@compuserve.com/abr /
br /Email: East Coast a href="mailto:72144.1055@compuserve.com"72144.1055@compuserve.com/abr /
br /Global Women’s Strike Webpage: a href="http://womenstrike8m.server101.com" title="http://womenstrike8m.server101.com"http://womenstrike8m.server101.com/abr /
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