Exchanging Welfare Checks for Wedding Rings: Welfare Reform in New Jersey and Wisconsin

This article discusses the growth in welfare reforms in the 1980s and 1990s, known as Bridefare, that have focused on forcing poor women into traditional marriages to remain eligible for public assistance benefits. It argues that Bridefare perpetuates discriminatory institu tions and subjects poor women to dominance by and economic depen dence on men.