Editing Underclass (section)

===Mead's diagnosis and prescription===
Mead argues that the core cause of the underclass problem (or at least the perpetuation of the underclass problem) is [[welfare spending|welfare]].<ref name="Mead">{{cite book|last=Mead|first=Lawrence M.|title=Beyond Entitlement: The Social Obligations of Citizenship|year=1986|publisher=The Free Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=0-7432-2495-7}}</ref> Mead argues that most welfare programs encourage social dysfunctions, including [[welfare dependency]], illegitimate births, [[joblessness]], and [[crime]]. For Mead, welfare is too permissive and provides benefits to the underclass without requirements for its members to change their behavior and lifestyle.

Mead's diagnosis that permissive welfare is a primary cause of the underclass problem is followed by a prescription for a more authoritative welfare program that combines benefits with requirements.<ref name="Mead" /> This proposal is often called "[[workfare]]", which requires welfare recipients to work in order to receive aid. For Mead, such a program design would evoke behavioral change since permissiveness is replaced with authority.  Mead summarizes his call to replace permissive welfare with authoritative welfare:

{{quote|The progressive tradition of extending new benefits and opportunities to the worst-off has made it next to impossible to address the behavioral difficulties at the bottom of society in their own terms. For to do that, authority, or the making of demands on people, would have to be seen as the tool, and not the butt, of policy.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mead|first=Lawrence M.|title=Beyond Entitlement: The Social Obligations of Citizenship|year=1986|publisher=The Free Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=0-7432-2495-7|pages=45}}</ref>}}