Does the "Welfare Queen" Have a History?

She was a figment of our political imagination -- and she wasn't. Plus: what we're reading, and more coronavirus resources

Do you remember a mythical character called the "welfare queen"? An imaginary woman who emerged in the 1970s to haunt policy debates about how, and whether, the United States government should support the poor?

The welfare queen wasn’t a single mom, struggling to make ends meet and fighting off midnight inspections from social workers looking to see if …