"Welfare dependency is bad for families and bad for the taxpayer. It makes it less necessary and less worthwhile to work. The promotion of idleness leads, as it always does, to the growth of vice, irresponsibility and crime. The bonds which hold society together are weakened. The bill—for single mothers, for delinquency, for vandalism—mounts. In some areas, a generation grows up without solid roots or sound role models, without self-esteem or hope. It is extraordinary what damage is sometimes do

When welfare policies were reshaped in the late 1960s and 1970s, many programs included restrictions that discouraged or outright penalized households where a Black man was present. In order for Black women to qualify for much-needed financial assistance, caseworkers often inspected homes and enforced the so-called “man-in-the-house” rule, which disqualified families if a father or partner was living there. This practice effectively punished Black families for staying together, creating a devast