Citation

Lindhorst T, Leighninger L. Soc. Serv. Rev. 2003; 77(4): 564-584.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

In August 1960, Louisiana terminated welfare benefits for 22,501 children whose mothers were deemed “unsuitable” because of extramarital sexual activity. Coming amid the struggle to desegregate New Orleans’s schools and overwhelmingly affecting African‐American women and children, the Louisiana suitable home initiative was part of a package of prosegregation laws that codified growing anxieties about race, class, and gender stereotypes of poor black women. Ultimately, the Louisiana suitable home law was the catalyst for a series of events that increased the federal role in determining Aid to Dependent Children eligibility. This study illuminates efforts to bring attention to the situation.