Welfare in America: Perspectives on White Poverty and Human Rights

The purpose of this undergraduate thesis is to address the American welfare system, as experienced by poor whites in a variety of different contexts. I examine the system from multiple angles — including its strengths, weaknesses, and the ways in which it is can be possibly restructured to better address widespread poverty in the United States. The implications of whiteness, poverty, and the intersection between the two will also be discussed. All of these topics will be analyzed with a human rights perspective, meaning a perspective that considers the United States’ relation to human rights and the values that these rights imply.