The effects of welfare assistance and dependency on family structure in the United States has been discussed extensively in regard to different ethnic groups, particularly African Americans, Hispanics, and Anglo-Americans. [1] What is its effect on Arab American families? In most countries of the Middle East, extended family relations rather than welfare has been the traditional means of support, and in previous years in the Dearborn immigrant working class Arab community, welfare was not common or accepted. Many who were eligible in those days did not have access to it because of language and transportation problems, or they felt shame for their family if they accepted it. However, this pattern is changing, with more persons accepting it in this community.

Yaping Chen. Attitudes of Arab Immigrants toward Welfare. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2022) Vol. 5, Issue 3: 39-47. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2022.050308.

[1] Carole Browner and Ellen Lewin, “Female Altruism Reconsidered: The Virgin Mary as Economic Woman,” American Ethnologist, Vol, 9, No. 1,1982, pp. 61-75. 

[2] Wilson, William J. When Work Disappears, New York: Knopf, 1996, p. 201. 

[3] Carole Stack, All Our Kin: Strategies for Survival in a Black Community, New York: Banton, 1974, p.134.

[4] Carole Browner and Ellen Lewin, “Female Altruism Reconsidered: The Virgin Mary as Economic Woman,” American Ethnologist, Vol, 9, No. 1,1982, p. 64.

[5] Barbara C. Aswad, “Attitudes of Immigrant Women and Men in the Dearborn Area Toward Women's Employment and Welfare”, Yvonne Y. Haddad and Jane I. Smith, eds., Muslim Communities in North America, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994, pp. 501-519. 

[6] Megan C. Martin, Koen Caminada, Welfare Reform in the U.S.: A Policy Overview Analysis, Poverty & Public Policy, Vol.3, No.1, 2001, p. 18.

[7] Suleiman, Michael W., ed. Arabs in America: Building a New Future, Temple University Press,1999, p. 179. 

[8] Elliott Liebow, Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women, New York: Penguin,1995, p.17.

[9] Suleiman, Michael W., ed. Arabs in America: Building a New Future, Temple University Press,1999, p. 179.

[10] Barbara C. Aswad, "Family Size and Access to Resources: A Case Study from the Middle East", K. Michaelson, ed., And the Poor Get Children: Radical Perspectives on Population Dynamics, New York: Monthly Review Press, 1981.

[11] Suleiman, Michael W., ed. Arabs in America: Building a New Future, Temple University Press, 1999, p.180.

[12] Albert Hourani and Nadim Shehadi, eds., The Lebanese in the World: A Century of Emigration, London: I.B. Tauris, 1992, pp. 167-187. 

[13] Barbara C. Aswad, “Attitudes of Immigrant Women and Men in the Dearborn Area Toward Women's Employment and Welfare”, Yvonne Y. Haddad and Jane I. Smith, eds., Muslim Communities in North America, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994, p.512.

[14] ACCESS, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services records, Senate Resolution, 0160, July 1998.

[15] Hasan Jaber, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services records, September 1996. 

[16] ACCESS, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services records, Senate Resolution, 0210, 1995/1996.

[17] Suleiman, Michael W., ed. Arabs in America: Building a New Future, Temple University Press, 1999, p. 181.

[18] John Zogby, Arab America Today: A Demographic Profile of Arab Americans, Washington, DC: Arab American Institute, 1990, p.112. 

[19] Barbara C. Aswad, “Yemeni and Lebanese Muslim Immigrant Women in Southeast Dearborn”. In E. H. Waugh, S. M. Abu-Laban, and R. B. Qureshi, eds., Muslim Families in North America, Edmonton, Canada: University of Alberta Press, 1991, pp. 256-281.

[20] Carole Browner and Ellen Lewin, “Female Altruism Reconsidered: The Virgin Mary as Economic Woman,” American Ethnologist, Vol, 9, No. 1,1982, p. 66.

[21] Suleiman, Michael W. ed., Arabs in America: Building a New Future, Temple University Press, 1999, p.188.