This episode looks at the faces within the welfare rolls, and echoing them, finds defeat, degradation, and "an aura of illegitimacy" engendered by "cumbersome and paternalistic" rules. Welfare is treated as a "privilege" rather than as a "right" recipients feel. There is not enough money for a decent existence -- each request for money to clothe a child is an act of self-abasement.


Work is discouraged, since a woman can keep only a negligible share of her earnings while she remains on welfare. And, in the case of deserted or unmarried women with dependent children there is almost no chance of a decent relationship with a man, because the system permits that an apartment to be searched at any time of the day, and that she be deprived of her welfare check if a man (even the children's father) is found on the premises. It is against this system that the clients' group are directing their energies, banded together into the nationwide Welfare Rights Organization. And the film dramatizes the movement, which had its beginnings in a 250-mile march from Cleveland to Columbus, Ohio, last June 30.


This year, on the same date, the film follows an anniversary march by the members of the Rights organization in Cleveland, where demands are presented to the county welfare department. Much of the film takes place in Cleveland. Here, the conditions of families on ADC (Aid to Dependent Children) are depicted, and mothers describe how they raise large families on inadequate checks.