Bush wants tough new work-welfare rules, spend $300 million to promote marriage.WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George W. Bush is proposing a tough new set of work requirements for welfare recipients and $300 million to promote marriage, including $135 million for abstinence education. The plan will require that 70 per cent of all welfare recipients in a state be working by 2007 even though the typical state currently has only 30 per cent of its caseload case·load n. The number of cases handled in a given period, as by an attorney or by a clinic or social services agency. caseload Noun working, In addition: * recipients will be required to spend 40 hours a week working, * two of those days may be used for education or training, * people who need short-term, intensive help will be allowed three months of full-time drug rehabilitation This article is about the process of rehabilitation for substance dependency. For other uses, see Rehab (disambiguation). For other kinds of rehabilitation, see Rehabilitation. For the American rap-rock group, see Rehab (band). or job training, * immigrants who entered the U.S. after 1996 and have not become citizens will continue to be banned from receiving welfare benefits for five years. The plan does not include any new money for child care, said Marian Wright Edelman Marian Wright Edelman (born June 6, 1939, in Bennettsville, South Carolina) is an American activist for the rights of children. She is president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund. , president of the Children's Defense Fund The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is a national organization that is committed to the social Welfare of children. Founded in 1973, the nonprofit group uses its annual $9 million budget to lobby legislators and to speak out publicly on a broad array of issues on the law, the family, and . At present, only one in seven children eligible for federal child care assistance gets it, she said. One-third of births in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. each year are to single mothers, a rate that jumps to 68.5 per cent among blacks. Children growing up in one-parent families are four times as likely to be poor as those in two-parent households, say experts who note that a majority of families in the welfare system are single-parent households. The money will be redirected from another program that granted bonuses to states where rates of out-of-wedlock births declined and should be used for pilot projects that provide premarital counseling or marital enrichment classes. Kim Gandy Kim Gandy (born January 25, 1954) is an American feminist and the president of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Gandy was born in Bossier City, Louisiana, to Alfred Kenneth Gandy and the late Roma R. Gandy (1927-1998), a native of Pennsylvania. , president of the National Organization for Women, said it is an outrage to suggest that marriage is the path to economic stability for poor women. If the government wants to help women and children, it should provide them with more assistance, she said. Abstinence is the only sure way to prevent unwanted pregnancies unwanted pregnancy Obstetrics A pregnancy that is not desired by one or both biologic parents. See Teen pregnancy. , Bush said as he unveiled his plan. But critics said he is going to make things even tougher for single parents with his new work requirements. |
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