In the rhetoric that preceded and paved the way for so called welfare reform, the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, poor, single mothers were repeatedly characterized as the causes of virtually all that was wrong in the United States. Single mothers particularly those on welfare, have been relentlessly stereotyped by politicians, policy-makers and pundits as lazy, dependent, reluctant to work, often as promiscuous and corrupt. Single mothers have to …showed first 75 words of 378 total…

…showed last 75 words of 378 total…parents that did not turn their backs on me, but instead help me to provide and decent life for my children. Single mothers should not be judged because they are trying to make ends meet by getting public assistance. They have to survive just like everyone else. There might be some mothers out there that do abuse the system, but the majority is just trying to support their kids the best way that they can.