Under Attack, Fighting Back : Women and Welfare in the United States

Named an "Outstanding Book" by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America "Abramovitz introduces the reader to cutting edge socioeconomic analysis. . . . It is not possible to come away from Under Attack, Fighting Back with a sense that welfare is a simplistic topic or that the human consequences of adjustments in the existing system are inconsequential." --Labor History "This lively and informative book deserves to be widely read. It provides an excellent history of AFDC and the activities of various women's groups who have campaigned hard over the years for improvements in services to the poor." --Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare "Extraordinarily lucid and useful . . . " --In These Times In this short, eye-opening book, Mimi Abramovitz describes the heartless assault on impoverished single mothers in the name of "ending welfare dependency." Outlining the history of Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Abramovitz shows how the manipulation of gender, race, and class have made welfare vulnerable to attack. This new edition brings a well-received work completely up to date with analysis of recent developments in welfare "reform" and activism.

Mimi Abramovitz is a professor at the Hunter College of Social Work in New York.