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Updated: 2002-09-23 01:00

Don't pay moms to get married (2002/09/23)

为爱而嫁还是为福利而嫁? (2002/09/23)

Don't pay moms to get married
Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash

Bush, who campaigned as a less-government-is-good-government Republican, is so convinced of this that he is pressing Congress to add money to promote marriage in a bill that reauthorizes the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. The legislation, already approved by the House, is expected to be voted on by the Senate before the current law expires at the end of this month.

Bush wants to spend 0 million a year to hawk the value of marriage to welfare mothers. Counseling couples on the virtues of marriage isn't a bad idea -- as long as their participation isn't coerced in any way.

But that's just what opponents of the president's ''marriage incentives'' program believe will happen if it becomes law. They fear that other states will follow West Virginia's lead and offer to put more money in a mother's welfare check if she marries the father of her dependent children.

They're expected to argue this point today during a Capitol Hill news conference. The event was called to drum up support for a Senate amendment that would redirect Bush's marriage-incentives money to other programs that ''strengthen protections for the most disadvantaged families,'' such as teen parents and those who care for disabled children.

''The amendment targets scarce federal resources to where they will work best,'' said its author, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Connections between abuse, welfare

There's a real danger in offering poor women a financial incentive to marry. Many of them have gone on welfare to escape a violent relationship, according to a report being released today by the National Organization for Women Legal Defense and Education Fund. It concludes that abuse victims are less likely to find and keep a job or pursue the education they need to get off welfare.

Faced with the choice of leaving an abusive, unloving partner or getting additional public assistance to care for their children in return for marrying their tormentor, some women might opt to take the money. That's an enticement the federal government shouldn't allow states to dangle before these women.

''Simply providing financial incentives for marriage is not what the Bush marriage-incentive program is about,'' said Wade Horn, the assistant Health and Human Services secretary who oversees welfare programs. Instead, he said, Bush's emphasis is on counseling, educational and mentoring programs that will help married couples stay together.

That's a departure from what Horn advocated in a 2001 Brookings Institution article written while he still was president of the National Fatherhood Initiative. Then, he said that while reauthorizing the welfare-reform act, Congress ''could require states to follow West Virginia's lead and provide a cash bonus to single mothers on welfare who marry the child's biological father.''

A better idea would be for Congress to expressly prohibit states from doing that.

(Agencies)

作为一名共和党人,布什在竞选总统的时候就强调"政府管的少就是管的好"。为了贯彻这一点,他积极要求国会重新批准1996年出台的《福利改革法案》,并增加拨款来鼓励婚姻。而这项立法已经得到了众议院的批准,将在本月底现行法令有效期满之前由参议院投票决定。

布什打算每年拨款3亿美金来帮助母亲们感受到婚姻的价值,向她们提供更多的福利。向夫妇们提供婚姻美德方面的咨询也许不失为一个好主意--如果这些夫妇自愿参加的话。

但一些反对者却认为,一旦总统的"婚姻激励"政策升级为法律后,他们所担心的情况将会出现:所有的的州都会象西弗吉尼亚州那样,只要一名怀孕女子和自己孩子的父亲结婚,政府就得为她的福利体检花掉更多的钱。

他们希望在9月18日的国会山记者会上讨论这一点。该次讨论被看作是参议员森· 帕蒂·D·瓦什想要为自己提出的修正法案寻求支持的举措。该修正法案旨在建议布什总统将用于"婚姻激励"政策的钱转而用于"对那些极端弱势家庭提供帮助",比如那些过早"为人父母"的青少年,或是那些照顾残疾儿童的人们等。

帕蒂说,"修正法案是要将不多的联邦资源用在刀刃上,用在最能发挥作用的地方。"

Don't pay moms to get married福利:福兮祸兮?

向贫穷妇女提供福利金来鼓励她们结婚的确存在着一定的风险。美国国家妇女法律保护及教育基金组织9月18日公布的一份报告显示,许多妇女为了逃避一段可能为自己带来暴力虐待的关系而开始领取救济金。该报告的结论是,那些被虐待的女性受害者往往不愿意接受教育或寻找工作,她们宁愿靠救济金度日。

然而一旦布什的提议成为法律,这些妇女又会动摇起来。是逃离虐待自己,根本已经无爱可言的丈夫,独自一人面对今后的生活,还是为了得到可以用来抚养孩子的额外公众补助而回到给自己带来梦魇的恶魔身边?面临这样的选择,很多妇女都会倾向于后者。而实际上,州政府根本就不应该把这样的诱惑摆在这些妇女眼前。

负责监察该项计划的美国健康和公众服务部主管福利计划的秘书长助理韦德·霍恩说:"布什总统的初衷绝非单纯地用福利金来鼓励妇女结婚。"他认为恰恰相反,总统主要是想通过咨询、教育和顾问指导等途径来鼓励已婚的夫妇们营建一个幸福的婚姻。

然而,霍恩这样说很明显是自相矛盾的。当他还是国家父亲援助行动协会主席的时候,他在2001年布鲁金斯研究所的一篇文章中提到,重新通过《福利改革法案》,国会就"能够要求各州象西弗吉尼亚州一样,为所有单身的母亲提供额外的福利金,来鼓励她们嫁给自己孩子的父亲。"

如果国会够明智的话,就应该果断地阻止这种情况的发生。

(中国日报网站译)

 
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