Women, Poverty and Social Citizenship in the United States

Women's Leadership Conference:Making Connections on Shared Priorities

October 2012

Celia Winkler, J.D., Ph.D.Associate Professor, Dept. of SociologyThe University of Montanacelia.winkler@umontana.edu

Social CitizenshipT.H. Marshall (1893-1981) British sociologist

Social Citizenship: “status bestowed on all those who are full members of a community.”

Marshall’s Typology of RightsCivil Rights: right to participate in civil society

(negative)Freedom from assaults on physical and mental integrityFreedom from discrimination

Political Rights: right to participate in polityVoteSpeech

Typology of Rights, cont.Social Rights: right to share in the “social

heritage” (positive)Generally speaking, the resources necessary for physical

and mental health“live the life of a civilized being according to the

standards prevailing in society”

Interdependency of RightsEach set of rights is dependent on the othersWithout political or civil rights, cannot gain social rightsWithout social rights, cannot exercise civil or political

rights

Social Citizenship: CareCivil Rights:

Right to own property; testify in courtRight to divorceRight to control reproduction/family planning

Political Rights:Women’s suffrageBringing issues of care into the public debate

Social Rights:Supporting care work and reproductive choice

Issues:Women as workers (civil rights)Women as political actors (political rights)Women as caregivers (social rights)

Time periods:Progressive Era (1900-1920s)Great Depression/New Deal (1930s)Post WWII (1940s-1960s)Civil Rights Era (1960s-1970s)Rise of Neoliberalism (1980s-1990s)Rise of Neoconservatism (1990s-present)

1900-1920s: First Wave of FeminismQuestion: Equality or Difference?

Protective LegislationMothers’ AidWomen’s Suffrage

ProblemsLegal to pay women and children less than

menNormal work day 12 hoursFamilies needed child wageUnsafe working conditionsFew childcare optionsBirth control information illegalWomen and most racial minorities barred

from vote

Lewis Hine, sociologist and photojournalist

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire 1911

Difference or Equality?Protective legislation

State limits on women’s work hours upheldState limits on child labor upheldFederal limits on child labor struck downMinimum wage laws struck down

Scattered attempts to provide childcareLabor unions not protected by lawMothers Aid: limited assistance to “worthy”

mothers, administered by charitable organizationsWomen’s Suffrage gained by constitutional

amendment 1920

1930s: The New Deal

Issues: High unemploymentGendered solutionsRacial/ethnic discrimination

Unemployment increases: at its height, about 25%Homelessness, poverty increaseUnrest increases--fear of Bolshevik type revolution

The Great Depression—Social Issues

Solutions for male unemploymentCivilian Conservation Corp

Solution primarily for male unemploymentWork Projects Administration

Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act)

1935Established right of private sector workers to

organize, bargain collectively with employers, and strike

Established National Labor Relations BoardPromulgate rulesInvestigate and adjudicate charges of unfair

labor practicesConduct elections

Social Security Act, 1935Old Age Pensions and lump sum death

benefitsProvide securityRemove elderly from labor market

Unemployment compensationProvide securityRaise wages

Aid to Dependent ChildrenIntended as temporary programFor children supported by lone mothers

(preferably widows)

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938Work week: pay overtime for work over 40

hoursMinimum wage: for everyoneChild LaborUpheld in U.S. v. Darby Lumber Co. (1941)

Two track welfare systemsRace discrimination

Excluded as the price of Southern support:predominantly Black, Asian and Latino farmworkers and domestic workers

Gender expectationsUnemployment compensation, Social Security intended

for male breadwinnersADC intended for women and children not supported by

male breadwinnerMale track: based on employmentFemale track: characterized by dependency, intrusive

GI BillHousewife Era

Post-WWII: GI BillProblem: returning unemployed GIsSolution: Educational Grants, Housing LoansKeynesian Economics:

Reduced interest ratesGovernment infrastructure investment

Creates demand Demand drives production Production provides jobs/income Jobs/income drives production

GI Bill FeaturesEducational grants

Removes pressure from labor marketIntellectual infrastructure development

Schools, academic staff, support for students Provides educated workforce

Housing LoansProvided much needed housingProvided infrastructure development; jobs

GI Bill ProblemsMale dominated

only about 18% of female GIs took advantage of their GI Bill education eligibilityDiscrimination and lack of childcare

White dominatedDiscrimination within armed forcesEducation: segregated schoolsThreats of violencePoverty of familiesHousing : legal discrimination by lenders and communities

Only for GIs—“selectivity”

1960s-1970sCivil Rights LegislationSupreme Court casesVietnam WarLiberation MovementsSecond Wave Feminism

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

-- The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Welfare Rights and the War on Poverty

The Era of Welfare RightsWelfare Rights Movement linked to Civil

Rights MovementDiscrimination in local offices and by private

agencies Racial discrimination Morality requirements (single mothers)

The Era of Welfare RightsLBJ and the War on Poverty (1964-1968)

Head Start (preschool for poor children)Legal ServicesCommunity Action advocacy offices

Civil Rights LegislationEqual Pay Act of 1963Civil Rights Act of 1964Voting Rights Act of 1965

Supreme Court CasesEstablishes notion of “entitlement”

Right to pretermination hearing : Goldberg v. Kelly

Question: must one give up one’s constitutionally guaranteed rights in order to receive assistance?Right to travel: Shapiro v. ThompsonRight to privacy:

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965); Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972) Roe v. Wade (1973) cf: Wyman v. James (1971)

1980s-1990s“Reagan Revolution”The Decline of the Welfare State and Social Citizenship

Neoliberalism under Reagan Administration

Free marketEnd of “nanny state”“Truly Needy”Welfare Queens

in Cadillacs

Welfare Reform in the 1980sReplaced work incentives (carrots) with sticks

in AFDCTerminated thousands of “heads, hearts,

backs” from Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income

Eliminated food stamp eligibility for students, immigrants, strikers

Neoliberal policiesDeregulation

Housing marketFinancial institutionsHealth and safety

Attacking labor unionsLegislation and board composition

Tighten eligibility for disability and parental benefits

“Tough on Crime”

1980s politicsBacklash against feminism

Second wave feminism loses its voiceBacklash against racial/ethnic liberation

movements“Moral panics”

Child abuseCrime

Impact of Neoliberal PoliciesIncreased poverty rateIncreased inequalityIncreased homelessness

“gentrification”—reduced housing stockDisabled individualsFamilies

Increased incarcerationIncreased dichotomization between legitimate

and illegitimate dependencyIncreased “personal responsibility” for care of

family members

1990s-2000s“Ending Welfare as We know It”“Personal Responsibility”Third Wave Feminism

Ending Welfare as We Know It

Contract With America 1994: Personal Responsibility Act Punish illegitimacy

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996Enforce work; encourage marriageEliminate notion of “entitlement”

Source: CBO http://www.cbo.gov/publications/collections/tax/2010/graphics.cfm

Cumulative Change in Real After-Tax Average Income

Politics in the 1990s/2000sThird Wave FeminismAntiwarWomen’s care work disappears as legitimate

issue of discussion

Blame the poor99%/Occupy MovementsConservative backlash

Economic Insecurity and theGreat Recessionfindings from the economic security indexNovember 2011

Women and Men Living on the Edge: Economic Insecurity After the Great Recessionby Jeff Hayes, Ph.D., Heidi Hartmann, Ph.D. (September 2011)