Randy Albelda

Randy Albelda argues in the following viewpoint that the current policy of requiring the head of each welfare family to work within two years of accepting benefits is harming poor mothers and their children. According to Albelda, work requirements are pushing women into inflexible, low-wage jobs that offer no health benefits and inadequate support for raising children. The present welfare policy should be amended to include income supplements for part-time work or a shorter work week, so that mothers do not have to put low-wage employment ahead of the needs of their children. Albelda is a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to the author, what factors impede the entry of welfare mothers into the labor market?
2. How does the "obsession" with employment for poor mothers...