The term “welfare queen” is used to describe women who abuse the welfare system by having multiple children to increase their benefits. The stereotype emerged in the US in the 1980s and is often used by those who oppose poverty relief legislation. The stereotype includes racial elements and depicts women as lazy and promiscuous. Welfare laws have changed to combat fraud, including limiting the length of time individuals can receive benefits and using electronic cards for food stamps. The stereotype also includes the “poverty pimp,” who claims to be involved in charitable work but supports himself through grants and funds for the poor. Advocates of welfare reform attack both those receiving benefits and those providing social services.
Welfare queen is a derogatory label applied by politicians, social critics and others to describe women who abuse the welfare system by having several children in order to increase their social benefits and thus their standard of living. The image of the welfare queen, an otherwise able woman who exploits the benefits of poverty to avoid employment, is typically evoked by those who resent the poor and those who oppose legislation providing various types of poverty relief, including cash, food stamps, and other welfare benefits. The term can also be used in a non-political context by people who resent those who receive government assistance.
In the United States, the myth of the welfare queen began to emerge in the early 1980s and was promoted by some conservative politicians to describe women who have many children and commit outright fraud in order to receive benefits and not have to find work. These stories often depicted lazy, promiscuous women, who swindled the system and then used their benefits to pay for drugs or luxury items. A common version of the welfare queen story depicted a woman driving a Cadillac paid for in her welfare benefits. The welfare queen stories also often included a racial element in which the welfare queen was portrayed as part of a racial minority, thus fueling negative stereotypes about the poor and members of certain racial and ethnic groups.
While several public policy analysts and academics have attempted to challenge the wellness queen myth, the stereotype remains. As a result, welfare laws in the United States have changed significantly since the 1990s in an effort to reduce reliance on public benefits along with the creation of safeguards that combat welfare fraud. For example, welfare laws in the United States now limit the length of time an individual or family can receive benefits. Some benefits, such as food stamps, are now available via electronic cards, similar to debit cards, making it more difficult for food aid recipients to sell or transfer their benefits to another person.
Another stereotype that fits the stereotype of the welfare queen is that of the so-called poverty pimp, someone who claims to be involved in charitable work but supports himself primarily through grants and other funds for the poor while being unable to prove that he does any well in poor communities. While the so-called poverty protector may not receive welfare benefits directly, he may be employed as a result of having been employed through the use of public funds and private grants. Individuals advocating welfare reform often attack both the individuals receiving welfare benefits and those involved in providing social services and argue that both classes of people are a drain on the system.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
