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INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in ^ ew riter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction Is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI University l^icrolilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North! Z eeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800 521-0600 Order Number 0826579 The ‘Svorking poor”: Single mothers and the1 9 state, 1 1 -1 9 5 0 Rowe, Joyce Louise, Ph D. The Ohio State University, 1993 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Aii»r, MI 48106 THE "WORKING POOR": SINGLE MOTHERS AND THE STATE, 1911-1950 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University 3y Joyce Louise Rowe, B.A., M.A. The Ohio State University 1993 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Dr. Leila Rupp Dr. Warren Van Tine Dr. Susan Hartmann Adviser Department of History VITA Joyce L. Rowe November 27, 1949 .................. B:»rn-'Portland, Maine 1974 ................................ B.A., Philosophy, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 1981 ............................... M.A., History, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 1984-1988 ......................... Graduate Teaching Assistant, Ohio State University 1988-1991 ......................... Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Arlington 1991-1992 ......................... Temporary Assistant Professor, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 1992-Present .................... Temporary Assistant Professor, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History Women's History, American and European Adviser: Dr. Leila Rupp History of American Social Welfare American Labor History Adviser: Dr. Warren Van Tine XI TABLE OF CONTENTS VITA ...................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES ........................................ v CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ...................................... 1 A. Contemporary Welfare Reform: The Precarious Position of Welfare Mothers in the Modern Welfare State .................... 1 B. Conceptual Framework: Women's Culture and Consciousness v. Feminist Political Approach and Theories of Social Control....... lb C. The Family and Work Ethics: "Woman's Place" in America's Evolving Relief System, Colonial Times to the Late 19th Century....... 39 11. MOTHERS' PENSIONS: INEXPENSIVE WORK-RELIEF PROGRAMS ........................................... 71 A. The Context of the Pensions Movement: The Progressive Approach to Society ............ 77 B. The Limited Role of Family Preservation and Work Concerns in the Pension Movement ....84 C. The Mothers' Pension Program v. State Foster Care Systems: A "Cheap" Substitute? ......... 95 D. The Interests of the State: Children at Home with "Good" Mothers .................... 114 111. RELUCTANT DOMESTICS, ENTITLED MOTHERS .......... 129 A. Single Mothers: Reluctant Domestics ........ 134 B. Pensioned Mothers and the Irregular Labor Market ................................. 148 C. Women's Consciousness: The "Right" to Aid?.. 159 D. Women's Consciousness: The "Fitness" Factor..173 E. Who Decides "Employability?" Shifts in the Work-Welfare Policy for Welfare Mothers, 1933-1935 .................................... 187 111 CHAPTER PAGE IV. GRANTS OR JOBS? SINGLE MOTHERS AND THE WORK PROJECTS ADMINISTRATION ........................... 210 A. Women on the WPA: Who were they? ........... 214 B. Unlikely Workers: Barriers to Jobs for Single Mothers ............................... 220 C. The ADC "Option" and WPA Opportunities .... 2^0 D. Breaking Through the Barriers: The Art of Getting Jobs in Minneapolis: Case Studies, 1935-1940 .................................... 252 V. FOSTER CARE AND SINGLE MOTHERS: THE MINNESOTA CASE ............................................... 292 A. National Transitions in Foster Care Methods: From Institutions to Free Homes and Boarding Homes .............................. 299 B. The Minnesota Foster Care System: The Limitations of a "Model" Program .......... 308 C. Growth in Minnesota's Boarding Home System: A Qualified Gain ............................ 324 VI. SEPARATING MOTHERS AND CHILDREN: COERCION, RESISTANCE, COOPERATION ........................... 345 A. The Minneapolis Children's Protective Society: The Functions of Minneapolis's Major Child Placement Agency .............. 351 B. The "Home Situations" of Single Mothers of Children in the National Foster Care Caseload, 1933 .............................. 3G2 C. Behind the Raw Statistics: Why Children Were Away From Homes and Mothers ............... 371 D. The Politics of Boarding Home Financing .... 411 E. Pre-empting Women's Decisions: The Role of Social Agencies in Separating Single Mothers From Their Children ........................ 423 VII. CONCLUSION: TOWARDS WORKFARE ................... 436 A. The WPA: The Closing Years and Single Mothers' Reluctance to Return to the Private Sector ..438 B. Towards Workfare: ADC and Work during the 1940s and 1950s .............................. 445 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................... 462 iv LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Children in foster care, 1923, by type of care... 322 2. Children in foster care, 1930, 31 states ........ 325 and B.C. 3. Children in foster care, 1930, Minnesota ........ 325 4. Children placed by different agencies and institutions, Minnesota, 1930 .................... 328 5. Children in foster care, 1933, United States and Minnesota ..................................... 333 6. Children in foster care, 1930 and 1933, United States and Minnesota ...................... 333 7. Support for foster care from public funds, 1933, United States- and Minnesota ............... 336 8. Minnesota foster home care, 1933 ................ 352 9. Percentage distribution of children in foster care with mothers living and no fathers in the home, by whereabouts of mothers and fathers, 1933, United States ............................... 365 10. Children in foster care with mothers living and no fathers in the home, by whereabouts of mothers and fathers, 1933, United States ........ 367 11. Foster care children of single mothers by whereabouts of mothers, 1933, United States .... 369 12. Foster care children of single mothers by whereabouts of mothers: Children's Protective Society case sample and 1933 Census, United States ............................................. 372 13. Percentage distribution of legitimate and illegitimate children in foster care according to whereabouts of mothers, 1)33, United States...433 14. Percent distribution of legitimate and illegitimate children, by type of foster care, December 1)33, United States ................................... 425 VI CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Contemporary Welfare Reform: The Precarious Position of Welfare Mothers in the Modern Welfare State In January of 1991, Governor Pete Wilson of California toured an infant-care hospital ward and later answered some questions from reporters concerning his plan to reduce welfare payments. Responding to queries regarding the potential impact of these cuts on mothers receiving Aid to Families With Dependent Children, Governor Wilson explained that he was "convinced they'll be able to pay the rent. They will have less for a six-pack of beer. I don't begrudge them the six-pack of beer, but it is not an urgent necessity." Advocacy groups for the poor pledged to fight an energetic battle against the new plan of the governor, whose remarks "displayed ignorance about, and insensitivity to, the plight of the poor."^ Governor Wilson's comments reveal both a perspective that is shared by many and the tenacity of old myths about the poor. Centuries ago, an English poor law official probably would have made a similar comment in reference to young, able-bodied males. In today's world, politicians 1 and administrators are just as likely to target these kinds of accusations at the single mothers who head the great majority of AFDC families. Inherent in such remarks are the beliefs that single mothers waste the money granted to them by the state, that they are responsible for their own poverty, and that they are less moral than the rest of the population. At the same time, however, these women are held to a higher standard of morality, barred from indulging in "vices" that the wealthier can afford, while in a consumer society their activities