Laboring to Learn ─ Women's Literacy and Poverty in the Post-Welfare Era

Is welfare reform truly reform? Rivera (sociology and committee studies, U. of Massachusetts) makes good use of 10 years of research into the experiences of teen mothers and women who must attend adult education programs to receive aid. She finds that many of the conditions that caused them to drop out in the first place are perpetuated in such programs, and the pressures to be literate, the perfect mother, and the family wage earner are often insurmountable, putting the participants into less advantageous positions than before they enter the programs. She urges administrators and instructors to tailor such programs to the specific needs of women who are at the edge of desperation and with nowhere else to go. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)