Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
*United States Census Bureau, 2010.
Figure 9.3
Percentage of the population below the poverty line, 2000.
Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children
OnAugust22,1996PresidentClintonsignedthePersonalResponsibilityWorkandOp-
portunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). PRWORA effectively replaced Aid to Fam-
ilies with Dependent Children with a more decentralized and restrictive welfare pro-
gram called Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). Furthering PRWORA's wel-
fare to workfare goal, new provisions limited welfare benefits to two consecutive years
and five years cumulatively. These new time limits and work first policies effectively
hindered welfare recipients' efforts to complete educational or job training programs
that would ultimately move them out of poverty and public assistance dependency
(Mink and Solinger 2003; Reese 2005).
PRWORA radically altered the welfare landscape for impoverished welfare depend-
entwomen.Despitethis,womencontinuetoreceivesomeformsofgovernmentsupport.
Theseformsofsupporthavedifferentsocialandmaterialvalues.Inthischapterwedraw
on research conducted in the Greater Boston Area to argue that women who are physic-
ally qualified for whiteness, meaning that they are socially classified as “white” in the
U.S. racial system, are often able to access housing benefits that are unavailable to wo-
men who are classified as “black” or are brown skinned Latinas. In a context in which
impoverished women are demonized, criminalized, and defined as a social problem for
taxpayers, race structures how women negotiate gaining access to housing when they
are welfare dependent.
Section 8 Housing in Massachusetts
Massachusetts's Section 8 housing, a federally funded program, provides low-income
residents withtheopportunitytorenthousingthatmeetstheprogram'shealthandsafety
