{"id":1048,"date":"2004-08-30T13:44:39","date_gmt":"2004-08-30T21:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amptoons.com\/blog\/archives\/2004\/08\/30\/compassionate-conservativism-at-work-never-wed-mothers-kicked-off-federal-aid\/"},"modified":"2004-08-30T13:44:39","modified_gmt":"2004-08-30T21:44:39","slug":"compassionate-conservativism-at-work-never-wed-mothers-kicked-off-federal-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=1048","title":{"rendered":""Compassionate Conservativism" at work: Never-wed mothers kicked off federal aid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feministing<\/a>, quoting from the Ithaca Journal<\/i>, reports that “the U.S. Department of Labor has recently ruled that programs which fall under Displaced Homemaker Services cannot use federal funds help unwed single moms.” From the Ithaca Journal<\/i>:<\/a><\/p>\n

The Women’s Opportunity Center in Ithaca will no longer be allowed to use federal funds to assist unwed single mothers, according to a U.S. Department of Labor interpretation of the word “family” in the latest Displaced Homemaker Services eligibility guidelines.<\/p>\n

Dammi Herath, the executive director of the center, said on Thursday that the new regulations affect about 330 of the more than 500 women the center serves each year.<\/p>\n

[\u2026]centers will now only be allowed to use federal funds for women who can produce a divorce certificate or death certificate proving they have previously been in a legally recognized marriage.<\/p>\n

Left out of the federal definition for displaced homemakers are those who do not meet the criteria for the word “family,” including unwed single mothers, mothers and children from broken homes where a marriage certificate was never issued, mothers and children who can’t afford the costs associated with obtaining a divorce certificate, and mothers from same-sex relationships.<\/p><\/div>\n

This represents a significant change from how the federal government has defined “displaced homemaker” in the past. Typically, the government has defined the term like this (this particular example comes from a Federal Office of Technology Assessment <\/a>report on displaced homemakers):<\/p>\n

Displaced homemakers”<\/p>\n
    \n
  1. are between the ages of 35 and 64, and are:\n