Snitch Line Research Paper

Does the Welfare “Snitch Line” work? In 1995, a welfare “Snitch Line” was created to crack down on welfare fraud in order for governments and taxpayers to save millions of dollars. “During the 1980’s and 1990’s the public perception was that welfare fraud was a serious and costly expense well beyond reality” (Reitsma-street & Keck, 1996 ..). The Snitch Hotline and Fraud prevention team promised taxpayers a saving of over 100 mil in the first year. This estimated savings did not including police, legal, social and prison costs associated with charging recipients with fraud. Although the purpose of the hotline seemed, and was expressed, as extremely positive reality of its contribution was different. Reality is that the number of cases found
Single mothers challenge the norm ideology of a nuclear family. A nuclear family viewed as having full responsibility of their own well-being. Historically, the men were the head of the household and were financially responsibility for all needs of the nuclear family. Single mother families challenged this ideology and were seen as deviant and problematic. Because single mothers have no male, the question was then who is financially responsible for her and the children. To address who was financially responsible the elite categorized single mothers into two categories deserving and undeserving. Only single mothers who gained status by widowed were deserving of welfare called Mothers Allowance. Single mothers who gained status out of wedlock or abandonment were undeserving and did not receive welfare. Eventually, all women who cared for children and had no other form of income became eligible for welfare. However, with assistance and the implementation of the snitch line, fraud task force their lives became scrutinized and policed to determine if they were deserving of assistance. Questioning their sexuality and if truly were single was a key part of labeling their eligibility. Extreme measures of the scrutiny included termination of benefits if any male belongings were in the home (Reitsma- Street & Keck, 1996). The fear caused by the task force and their intrusiveness towards recipients into their home, but as well their personal autonomy was highly experienced and was a continuation of the idealization of nuclear family. “Sex outside of marriage—outside of family—rendered one undeserving of government support” (Welfare and the Ontario “Snitch Line, NA). Within society, the effect of this ideology shifted perception and depiction of single mothers from helpless to bad, creating greater public fear of their effect on society. Governments retreated