Welfare Moms

My thanks to The Times and Anne C. Roark for excellent coverage of research, conducted in Wisconsin and the Los Angeles area, which shows that women on welfare have significantly fewer children than women in the general population (Part I, May 31). The fertility rate (per 1,000 women in both categories) for welfare mothers was 45.8, while the rate for women in the general population was 71.1. This is in sharp contrast to the persistent misconception that typical welfare mothers have many children.

Another fascinating fact which emerges is that less than 1% of welfare recipients try to collect assistance for which they are not qualified. (I can only speculate on what the percentage might be of those of us who file income tax returns, or those corporations having government defense contracts.)

Perhaps your article may help to diminish the socially sanctioned practice of welfare mother “bashing.” I surely agree with Leonard Schneiderman, dean of the UCLA School of Social Welfare, as quoted in the story, “The tragedy about the welfare program in this country is not that it involves so many people but that it does so little to help those who need it.”

GRACE EHLMANN

Calabasas