Backlash against Welfare Mothers: Past and Present

5. Southern Welfare Backlashes: Georgia and Kentucky

5. Southern Welfare Backlashes Georgia and Kentucky 70 The 1950s welfare backlash was the strongest in the South, where planters dominated the political economy and white racism against blacks was rampant . Yet, it was more powerful in some southern states than others. In this chapter, I compare Georgia’s large-scale purge of its welfare rolls with Kentucky’s welfare backlash, which was not nearly as powerful.The relative strength of these two welfare backlashes reflected broader differences in these states’ political economies and race relations. Georgia was more typical of the Deep South than was the border state of Kentucky. Like most other states in this region, large farmers dominated Georgia’s political economy. In 1950, one out of five workers in the state was employed in agriculture, while the state’s main manufacturing industries— textiles, food, apparel, and paper—involved agricultural goods.1 While there were many small farmers in the state, large farms, many of which were former slave plantations, played a dominant role in the state’s economy. The disenfrachisement of blacks and a “one-party” political system dominated by rural counties ensured that planters continued to dominate state politics, even as agriculture declined.2 Although one-third of Georgia’s population lived in its six largest urban counties, representatives from those areas only made up 9 percent of the assembly and 7 percent of the senate in the 1950s.3 Racism toward blacks, who made up more than one-third of the population but lacked real voting power, was also extensive and shaped state politics considerably.4 These conditions fostered the development of a powerful welfare backlash and adoption of a host of new welfare regulations in 1952. By contrast, Kentucky adopted only a few new welfare rules in the 1950s. This is somewhat surprising, since the state had a substantial agricultural sector and considerable racism, conditions conducive to a strong welfare backlash. In 1950, about one-quarter of its labor force was employed in agri- culture, and corn and tobacco products were among the state’s principal manufactured products.5 As in other southern states, there was also considerable white resistance to the desegregation of the state’s public facilities.6 On the other hand, labor unions, especially strong in the state’s mines, and numerous small farmers provided strong support for New Deal programs and liberal Democrats. Kentucky’s political system was also more competitive than the rest of the one-party Deep South, a situation that encouraged politicians to compete for the black vote.7 Georgia’s Welfare Backlash The Rise of Welfare Opposition Georgia’s welfare backlash developed in response to a dramatic rise in welfare cases. Four times as many welfare applications were approved in 1950 as in 1945, while the percentage of black families among those served by ADC rose from 32 in 1948 to 43 in 1953.8 The demand for welfare increased partly because of the demobilization of the wartime economy and the displacement of agricultural workers.9 Federal welfare officials also put greater pressure on welfare officials to stop discriminating among applicants. Before then, Georgia’s welfare department limited its welfare budget by freezing the number of recipients who could receive aid. Counties discouraged people from applying or simply put new applicants on a “waiting list” until another welfare case was closed.10 To stem rising caseloads and expenditures, state welfare officials first cut benefits and tightened eligibility rules for ADC in 1949.11 The new regulations reinforced family self-sufficiency by requiring men to support their stepchildren, welfare mothers to seek support from deserting fathers, and able-bodied mothers with children over eighteen months to work.12 In 1952, the state welfare board adopted an even more stringent policy package.13 Like the 1949 policies, the new rules reinforced the male breadwinner role in families.Welfare mothers were required to seek support from their child’s father before receiving state assistance. Court orders of support, even if inadequate, could not be supplemented with welfare. The state also denied eligibility if there was an able-bodied stepfather or “substitute” father (i.e., a boyfriend) in the home. Meanwhile, mothers deemed promiscuous were denied welfare on the grounds that their homes were “unsuitable.” While those policies reinforced traditional gender roles, the state’s new “seasonal work requirement” undermined them. Able-bodied mothers with children over one year of age were expected to find employment if work was available . Another rule prohibited supplementation of full-time wages, even...