The Fatherhood Demotion

By Amy DePaul, AlterNet. Posted June 17, 2005.

The Republicans' new set of welfare reforms emphasize fatherhood in the context of marriage -- at the expense of economic issues.

One of the lesser-reported provisions of a set of conservative welfare reforms in Congress includes an attempt to encourage fathers who do not live with their children to participate more fully in raising them.

The fatherhood programs that House Republicans are proposing would receive little federal funding — $20 million, compared to the $200 million in marriage-promotion programs included in the same legislation. But these fatherhood programs, however meager, spotlight a neglected aspect of welfare policy. The problem is that the programs emphasize fatherhood in the context of marriage at the expense of economic issues.