Say What?
On the other hand, its totally clear that paying them to lay around the house and have more state supported kids won't improve them either.
I would say so - if the families qualify for welfare, yes...
I have worked with these folks... in a case management role to help them find work. My views are somewhat complicated by individual stories, but there is more that got these people onto welfare than lack of a good income. There is a whole lifestyle, decision-making process, and personal ethic that got them there. A job, any job, does not make you a better person. Money will buy stuff, but not happiness without fixing the rest.
These folk aren't parents because they wanted to be... and money isn't going to improve their motives.
The key word here is "continued". Sure they are still having financial troubles! They are gaining the work skills most of us learned in high school! They cannot command much more than minimum wage because they are, in most cases worth less than that level of compensation! This is not to say they are hopless; just retarded in their skill level due to way too many years receiving hand-outs from those who have worked all their adult lives!
This is not the fault of welfare reform, but rather the end result of the welfare state! This is what destroyed the black family, which was even more stable before the welfare state then the white family was (see Thomas Sowell's archives).
Although they are struggling now (they were before too!), they are gaining work skills which will earn them better paying jobs in the future. They are setting an example for their children; showing them that they will have to work for what they want when they grow up. Showing their children that life is not just one big hand-out. This is something that was sorely lacking under the welfare state.
Perhaps now, poor women will find it to their advantage to hold off on having babies with bums, and look for a guy who will help support the family. For decades, young poor women found it easier to have a kid, tell the dad to get lost, and make me support her kids. She got more money that way; short term. However, that father; if he had to stay with the family and had to support it would probably have gotten a job, learned job skills and then gotten a better job. But you can't jump into a CEO position as a first job; you have to work your way up!
The welfare state does exactly the opposite of what it's supporters claim to want. I think the inner circle know this quite well. Let's not forget that it was the Libs who insisted the welfare state be established and grow. The same Libs who fought tooth & nail against civil rights in '68 - like Algore's daddy!
MARK A SITY
http://www.logic101.net/
/sarcasm>
Secondly, I think the real benefit to these children will come when they have to begin to make their own way in the world, and have come from a home where their parent (or to be fair parents) took personal responsibility for their well being. Maybe they will be more likely to do the same.