The Why behind inequality

Of the many narratives written about social justice, upward mobility, oppression, racism, and poverty, data reports outline that multigenerational poverty is largely Black. There is a distinct connection with the collapse of the nuclear family in the inner city and the struggle for equality.

Without casting blame or judgment, demographic reports showcase the numbers. Seventy percent of Black children are born to single mothers. Those mothers are far more likely than married mothers to be poor. These moms, albeit hard-working, are more likely to pass that poverty cycle on to their children. Many try to downplay single motherhood as a sign of the times and inescapable in the era of women empowerment and a libertine social culture. However, the research continues to show that most educated women wait to have children until they are married.

Clearly, we are a two-family nation, separate and unequal—one thriving and intact, and the other struggling and separated from opportunity. To understand why we must explore the history of the 1960s. In the nation, there was a convergence of the women’s movement, the sexual revolution, Vietnam War protests, the assassination of a president, the civil rights movement, and the expansion of a welfare program called Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) by President Johnson.

To be able to access this “Great Society” welfare program, there were basically three rules, 1. No job, 2. No savings, 3. No man in the home. Sadly, the people who needed assistance the most were minority families, those who truly were oppressed and did not have access to many of the things White people take for granted. In communities of color, married men were asked to leave the home. This graph clearly demonstrates what happened to the non-marital birth rate affecting our Black brothers and sisters the most.

After 30 years of these policies that decimated the black family, the 1996 Welfare Reform and Social Responsibility Act was signed into law under the Clinton Administration, changing “Welfare as we know it” from AFDC to TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families). Welfare went from a Federalized program to a State Block Grant. The welfare dollars from the Federal Government are sent to Colorado and get administered by 64 sets of county commissioners partnering with their county Health and Human Service Directors.

The four purposes of TANF are:

• Assisting needy families so that children can be cared for in their own homes

• Reducing the dependency of needy parents by promoting job preparation, work, and marriage

• Preventing non-marital pregnancies

• Encouraging the formation and maintenance of two-parent families.

Unfortunately, the purposes of TANF are not being accomplished. Mostly the money is being spent on the job training. In fact, in Colorado TANF is called ColoradoWorks. It is time to make every effort to teach the next generation of young people, especially those who are currently struggling in the poverty cycle. Let us work together to teach high-need youth the skills to develop healthy relationships, effective communication skills including conflict resolution, financial literacy, job readiness, and career advancement skills, and how to stay out the poverty cycle by following the success sequence,

1. Graduate

2. Get a job,

3. Marry, and then have children.

This is one way, in a complex eco-system, to increase equality for all. joneen@myrelationshipcenter. org; www.myrelationshipcenter. org.