Unlike other books on welfare, this one draws on the stories of more than 100 welfare recipients who are trapped in a system that keeps them underemployed and unemployed. The authors present case studies that show that being a part of a welfare program can actively result in the recipients having to limit their job efforts for fear of losing government assistance. The book examines all major U.S. welfare systems, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, SNAP, Medicaid, and others. The authors begin by exploring the nation's basic poverty issues and examining the relationship between work and happiness. Next, they zero in on specific welfare programs, reporting both on their dollar costs and on the ways that they fail enrollees. THe book then concludes with strategies for addressing the shortcomings of the current U.S. welfare system. This book is appropriate for readers interested in public policy, government programs, welfare, and cultural shifts in America. It adds a new perspective to the existing body of welfare scholarship by systematically assessing the impact of welfare on the recipients themselves. -- from dust jacket.

Introduction: Welfare reforms need reforming -- Part I. The welfare conflict. -- What does work have to do with happiness? -- The war between welfare and work -- Part II. The counterproductive qualifications for welfare. -- What counts as poverty -- Marriage, childbearing, and teen pregnancy -- Part III. Welfare programs in theory and in fact. -- TANF : the changing face of cash assistance -- A housing system leaves the needy out in the cold -- Who gets food stamps? -- WIC : missteps with women and children -- How we disable the disabled -- Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act -- The Earned Income Tax Credit : welfare done (almost) right -- Part IV. Building blocks for a better welfare system. -- Patterns of dependence and independence : American Indians on reservations, barterers, and immigrants -- What should be done : from incentives to special savings accounts, solutions abound to get Americans back to work.