Welfare Reform: The Vicious Cycle

When young, single women have children, it almost guarantees they will be poor. Can welfare reform break the pattern?

One day this past winter there came a defining moment in the fight over the true cause of America's moral breakdown. It was the day police in Chicago arrived at a small apartment, opened the door and faced 19 children living in a squalor so wretched that one child pleaded to a female officer, "Will you be my mommy? I want to go home with you."

This is how a conservative like Bill Bennett responds to a crime scene like that: "Body count!" barks the former Education Secretary. "Body count, yes, body count. Kids dying, kids abused, kids cut up, kids...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!