ABSTRACT
Edward E. Schwartz is the George Herbert Jones Professor, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago. He was one of the early advocates of a family allowance and participated in the National Association of Social Workers’ Round table discussions (early 1960s) on cross-national studies of family allowances. His family security plan, which appeared in 1964, provides benefits that are applicable to all families, not only those with children. It represents an early effort to reduce poverty directly through a universal cash transfer program guaranteeing incomes at or close to the official poverty line.
