[Diva Betsy Ross]

Mostly all of the women who are on welfare do have the attidude that work is beneth them. I will give you 2% who don't.

There is a world of difference between a homemaker of 4o years ago, who may have felt inadequate to join the work force and a crack head with 7 kids from 7 daddies-who can't get motivated to stop lazying around.

Dichotomies,yes, but the welfare rolls are more full of the later.

40-50 years ago it was harder for a woman to get a job than it is today.

Now there are numerous incentives to hire women and women get handouts and handups all over the place to join the work field.

[RobbyS]

2% is a lot of people. Those have lived in the 9th ward all their lives may unaware of how much more opportunities are to be found in the "outside" world. Of course, I will concede there is the problem of values. Many years ago, in the 1950s, I think, I read a story about a young liberal in the Delta area who inherited a large farm from his daddy. He was familiar with the place and was displeased with the old shacks that his black sharecroppers lived in. a whole family in one or two rooms. He determined to build them all new ones, four room houses with windows,screen doors and a stove and refrigerator. Within months some were wrecks, with many screens doors knocked out so that the woman of the house could sweep the trash out. A few houses were still in pretty good shape. but he was, quite understandably disappointed by the general results of his liberal reforms.