Increasing Inequality: The Ascendancy of Neoconservatism and Institutional Exclusion of Poor Women

The recession of the early 1980s was handled by cutting welfare and other programs addressing the urgent needs of citizens in poverty, while government decisions greatly benefited affluent groups. A trickle-down rationale justified these policies. The response to the 2001 recession has been molded along the same lines, although the evidence for the trickle-down effect is lacking.