Customer Reviews

American Dream: Three Women, Ten Kids, and a Nation's Drive to End Welfare

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American Dream chronicles the effects of the welfare reform bill on three women in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Deparle has done an excellent job of pulling together a history of black poverty and welfare, knocking down a number of shibboleths en route to his conclusion. No matter which side of the argument you find yourself, Deparle's research will probably undermine certain things you thought were true, and force you to rethink how to approach the brutally difficult problem of poverty in America.

American Drean is at turns inspiring, frustrating, and unsatisfying. The hard work and occasional successes of Deparle's subjects cannot fail to remind the reader of the amazing ability of humans to overcome obstacles placed in their path. The dismal job done by welfare, whether pre- or post-reform to actually help people will infuriate the reader, as even people who believe that government has no business trying to support the poor would like to see such programs that exist do well, and to see the poor given every opportunity to improve their lot. Ultimately, American Dream cannot help but be unsatisfying to the reader, because Deparle offers no false ending to his story: these women continue to struggle even today (George Will recently mentioned one of them in an op-ed piece), and their struggle will undoubtedly be with them to the end of their lives.

Deparle deserves credit for neither sugarcoating the problem nor penning a jeremiad. His story simply presents a collection of successes and failures, painted against the backdrop of welfare and welfare reform. American Dream notes the massive obstacles the poor face in attempting to break out of poverty, obstacles those of us in the middle class often have no familiarity with. Yet Deparle does not counsel hopelessness, nor does he forget to note what successes his subjects have.

Ultimately, however, the reader will be hard-pressed to finish American Dream without feeling the dull ache of wonder: America is supposed to be the land of opportunity, yet true success seems to reside just outside the reach of all too many people. Is there any way to reopen those doors? Deparle wisely leaves that to his readers. His contribution has been to bring a better understanding of the problems faced by America's poor to light, and for that Deparle deserves great credit. American Dream is by no means an upbeat work, but it is a very valuable one.

In American Dream DeParle provides us with a historical overview of welfare policy from the signing of the Social Security Act in 1935 to the Signing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Against this backdrop he interweaves the personal narratives of three single mom's who are trying to make their way on, through and off of welfare, while juggling the complexities of the social and political economy of welfare, work-fare (workfirst) and the warfare of the streets.

Trying to assess if we have, in fact, "ended welfare as we know it," DeParle boldly challenges the nation to push beyond its stereotypic one-dimensional view of welfare moms as largely African American, lazy, angry, single mothers eager to manipulate and get over on the system. Instead, DeParle does something really astounding...he tells us the truth-no filters, no screens, no smoke and mirrors, just the truth-a real picture of real women who are strong, and determined, and yes, angry, and also creative and frightened and proud and resilient. Women working really hard at trying to make sense of their own personal truth, their life experiences on welfare, and figuring out how to survive it. It's not necessarily a pretty picture, but it's a real picture, and it's an honest picture. And, for those who grew up in poverty and on welfare, it provides an opportunity to redeem their past with a sense of dignity and integrity. This is a must read for anyone interested in government, politics, welfare policy and the truth about life in the subculture of poverty in America.

I assigned "American Dream" in a senior seminar I taught in the fall 2005 semester on Children's Health, Education & Welfare. My students went out of their way to convey to me how much they loved this book. I did too. Books on welfare reform tend to fall into either the numbing statistical variety (very academic) or emotional and anecdotal variety. DeParle's book is that rare one that combines both varieties with exceptional writing. Few academics write as well as DeParle and few journalists know as much as he does about welfare reform. For my money, this is one of the very best books on public policy, generally, and welfare reform, specifically. There are also 2 excellent PBS Newshour segments available online that profile both DeParle and the lives of the people he chronicles. Together with the book, the PBS segments make for a great week or two of teaching welfare reform.

Two minutes after cracking open 'American Dream' you realize that Jason DeParle is a phenomenal writer. But even more important, he's got an incredible story to tell: the story of how welfare reform took on a momentum never before known in our country and how the changes it wrought impacted the lives of very real women and their families. In his book, DeParle asks the difficult questions: Has welfare reform improved the lives of families formerly on welfare? Has the experience of children seeing their mothers going to work had a positive influence on their lives? Has outsourcing the management of caseloads to for-profit companies proven to be a success? What can be done to motivate far more men to pursue well-paying jobs and remain an integral part of their children's lives? DeParle doesn't come up with any easy answers, though he tells the story of welfare reform and its impact in a powerfully compelling way -- from an historial standpoint, from a public policy standpoint and from the personal standpoints of those who sought work after their welfare benefits ran out. What I found most compelling were the very human portraits of the women he profiles -- Angie, Jewel and Opal. I was moved, educated and motivated by this book. Definitely a must buy -- and do go and share it with your friends and family.

Even though I am an avid reader, I have never written a customer book review before. However, this book proved to be a thoroughly interesting read as well as a thoughtful and provoking look inside the lives of people most directly impacted by Welfare Reform - and served as a clear starting point for reflections. The descriptions of the activities within the beltway, as well as within the three women's homes, serve to bring `wonk' material to a very real level. With extraordinary (seven-years!) of personal and policy research, the book should be read by all who are involved in making and re-making human service policy, as well as those of us who vote for them.

I have long been interested in social policy and the politics of welfare. That said, I don't read alot of books on the subject anymore--most don't justify the investment of time, attention and money. This book stands out because of Deparle's extraordinary ambition in tracing the roots of intergenerational poverty; his excellent analysis of a broad, complex subject; and his exceptional skills as a writer and storyteller. This book is a good read!

This book was a real eye-opener. Following three women and their families over time allows the reader to really understand what it's like to live as a poor person. Oh, my, did I learn a lot! I learned that people on welfare are not helpless; that they're strong and resilient and resourceful...and NOT afraid. I learned that the welfare system is irretrievably broken, a bureaucratic morass that deserves to be bombed into oblivion so that we can start from scratch with something more humane and human-sized. I learned that you absolutely CANNOT live - and I mean REALLY live - on welfare alone or on the minimum wage alone. And I learned that we as a society must do something to save the kids and the men (and women addicted to drugs) who live within these systems.

This is a powerful story that will stay with you long, long after you finish reading it. The people are real, their lives are real. We've got to do better by them.

Jason de Parle has constructed here an in-depth look at social policy and its effect on the lives of the urban poor during the late '90s and '00s. Thorough, thoughtful, well-researched, and not beholden to any ideological position, de Parle has examined all aspects of welfare and policy, including situating it in its historical context. His insights will both please and offend those of both liberal and conservative bents, which is a good sign that he's doing something right, and as he demonstrates how policy decisions set at the top do--and don't--impact those actually living them, the reader comes to know and feel for his informants. This is a good starting place for those interested in learning about social policy and welfare reform.

Informed by his extensive experience covering domestic poverty, DeParle skillfully weaves the history, culture, voices and faces of an American family to insightfully breathe life into the statistics of welfare policies. His book is poignant in that it penetrates the intricacies of the Welfare-to-Work program and other social policies, while appropriately portraying traits of the human condition - traits that our policies reflect and depend on. American Dream will inspire you to question and probe further into the cross-cutting issues surrounding our nation's poverty - to become a more aware and socially responsible citizen (if you take the challenge). As a black American...as a friend, mentor and relative of former and present welfare recipients, I sincerely appreciate DeParle's assiduity and dedication to demystifying poverty, especially in marginalized communities. I applaud his commitment to sharing the challenges, courage and hope of the voices so often muffled by the superficiality and elitism dominant in our society today. With that said, Jason DeParle's American Dream is an essential (and entertaining) read for EVERYONE.

This book is an excellent discussion of welfare policy, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Although another reviewer suggested skipping the policy pieces, I wouldn't recommend it. It is all fascinating and the author has great skill at weaving policy and the women's stories in a way that is vivid and urgent. A real page-turner! And it was interesting to note how another reader focused on the women (mentioning their race as well) receiving benefits as being carried by taxpayers, but did the reader miss how largely white men were creaming off thousands if not millions of dollars in their contracts to deliver largely useless programs, also at the taxpayers' expense? The one fault I do find is the author's causal and incorrect use of the title "social worker." Social workers are degreed individuals with much skill and professionalism. The people described in the book were not trained social workers, but rather unskilled, untrained office help, or perhaps one could call them generic social service workers. If we had degreed social workers in those positions, and were willing to pay for that expertise and training, I think the outcomes would be better. For full disclosure, I am a degreed social worker.