Law Commons^™

The Child Exclusion In A Global Context, Martha Davis

Martha F. Davis

Twenty-two states now exclude children born to women on welfare from the calculation of families' welfare benefits. This program of subsistence benefit withholding is known as the “family cap” or the “child exclusion;” children denied benefits under the program are called “cap babies.” After reporting on the status and context of child exclusion policies in the U.S., including evidence of their disparate racial impact, this article examines child exclusion policies through a global lens. The United Nations has urged all countries to develop formal population policies and over the past two decades, most have. The U.S. has not done so, …