Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/DavidDOrio

Recent public policy initiatives are aimed at promoting work so that families can pay for their basic needs. However, even people who work may have problems paying their housing expenses. The Department of Housing and Urban Development reported recently that many people working full-time at the minimum wage have difficulty affording decent-quality housing in the private rental market.

Some critics of the welfare system have argued that welfare programs contribute to the creation of a society in which the values and beliefs of people receiving public assistance are fundamentally different from those of people not receiving public assistance. To examine attitudes toward welfare and working mothers, parents were asked a series of questions regarding welfare and working mothers. The responses reflect the attitudes of the parent or primary caregiver who knows the most about the health care and education of children in the household.

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