ABSTRACT
The unemployed were able to adjust to the loss of their jobs, the exhaustion of their savings accounts, even to the cashingin of their insurance policies, but they broke down on the day they asked for Relief. Basic to the administration of Home Relief was the home visit by the Department of Welfare investigator. Despite orders to the contrary, several investigators took it upon themselves to reprimand Catholic women for becoming pregnant while on Relief. "Mrs. Robinson expressed a great deal of discouragement over the attitude of Home Relief workers. Harsh investigators had their counterpart in others who tried their level best to minimize the unpleasant aspects of Relief. Less than 25 per cent of the Home Relief families objected to their investigator, and only slightly more than 25 per cent complained about Relief investigators in general. When the Israels applied for Relief, their daughter was earning $12 a week as a stenographer.
