Hello,

I was wondering if there are any feminist groups arguing the new welfare reform. The Bush administration has proposed $100 million dollar package for states to encourage women on welfare to get married (source The Hartford Courant 2/7/02 &2/8/02). To me this idea seems crazy. If women of any income level are "encouraged" to get married for financial reasons by the U.S. government I would say that this would be a huge set back in the fight for complete equality. Also I believe that this will eventually lead to more domestic violence. This "experiment" needs to be opposed. How do I go about doing this? I already wrote the news paper, called another paper and e-mailed you.

You're right to be outraged by the welfare policy. Sadly this isn't news. In the first wave of welfare reform there was the proposed "illegitimacy" clause, which promised states more money for lowering the rate of illegitimate children. However, they never defined exactly how "illegitimate" was determined. For instance, just different names for the mother and the baby, with the parents living together, but not married. So not only was it unjust, but it was ill informed. In addition to alerting the media, you should alert your politicians -- senators and Congressional representatives -- also your governor, so it doesn't replicate itself at the state level. There is a group called the Committee of 100, which has been working on this issue, as have most of the reproductive health groups, like Planned Parenthood, etc... Thanks for speaking up.

Amy