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"Students of poverty policy will appreciate the detailed examinations of current welfare policy—such as work requirements and time limits—that Whitesell uses to introduce each chapter. And Whitesell’s reexamination of welfare policy through the lens of racial and gender bias should be enlightening even for experts. Her insights on the lack of political representation should also serve as a wake-up call to advocates who presume to lobby on poor Americans’ behalf ... a valuable addition to scholarship on the limitations of American social policy. Most crucially, it offers an important warning about the prejudices that can warp public policy and institutionalize them still further." ~Washington Monthly

"A thoughtful and nuanced analysis of the politics of anti-poverty policy. Living off the Government illuminates the complex intersection of voters, political parties, interest groups, and descriptive representation as they impact government cash assistance in the U.S. states. Whitesell’s outstanding book shows how politics shapes the lives of an intersectionally disadvantaged population, sometimes for good and often for ill." ~Martin Gilens, author of Democracy in America?: What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It