"Our Costly Dilemma" - Edgar (Ed) May - Buffalo Evening News
Reportage
Tags
Description
The series examines welfare inefficiencies - and the ease with which some who are not needy can take advantage of the aid - based on six months of reporting, including Ed May's three-month undercover stint as a welfare case worker in Erie County, New York.
Reporters
Links
Media History
The reporting was intended for these media types: Magazine, Newspaper
Additional Resources
Effects and Outcomes
Ed May's series for the Buffalo Evening News won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting in 1961 and led to his book, "The Wasted Americans," published in 1964. The Pulitzer citation notes the series "brought about reforms that attracted nation-wide attention."
Articles, Books, Video/Film
I-"Our Costly Dilemma: Inside Welfare: Close-up of a Staggering Problem" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Penetrating Look at Costs, Cases Yielded by News' 6-month Study
June 7, 1960
The first in the series called "Our Costly Dilemma" by Buffalo Evening News reporter Ed May exposing inefficiencies ...II-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Staff Stretched Too Thin, Welfare Poorly Policed
June 8, 1960
Editor's note: This series of articles on public welfare follows six months of research and study by the staff of ...IV-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Relief Workers Caught in a Jungle of Red Tape
June 10, 1960
The fourth installment of "Our Costly Dilemma," Ed May's series for the Buffalo Evening News about New York State's ...III-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Many Families on Relief Permanent Public Wards
June 9, 1960
In the third article of the series, Buffalo Evening News reporter Ed May describes how some families collect welfare ...V-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Families Shirk Legal Duty To Take Care of Their Own
June 11, 1960
In this fifth installment of Ed May's "Our Costly Dilemma" series, he reports that relatives of those eligible for ...VI-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Storm Center of Relief: Dependent Children's Aid
June 13, 1960
In the sixth installment of his "Costly Dilemma" series, Ed May writes about the ballooning cost of welfare's "aid ...VII-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Some Malingerers Take Long Rides on Relief
June 14, 1960
In the seventh article in Ed May's series about New York State's welfare system, he reports that some welfare ...VIII-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Welfare Records Stained With the Blot of Cheating
June 15, 1960
In his eighth article about New York State's welfare system, Buffalo News reporter Ed May reveals ways that ...IX-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Welfare Fraud Carries Only Minimum of Risk
June 16, 1960
In the ninth article of "Our Costly Dilemma" welfare series for the Buffalo Evening News, Ed May reports that ...X-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Major Welfare Problem Is Hiring, Keeping Staff
June 17, 1960
In the tenth article of "Our Costly Dilemma," Buffalo Evening News reporter Ed May turns his attention to the ...XI-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Medical Costs Are Major Factors In Our Ailing Welfare System
June 18, 1960
Ed May writes about the increasing costs of hospitalization and medical care in general and its burden on New York ...XII-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Worried About the Rent? It's More Than $7 Million
June 20, 1960
In the twelfth article in his series about New York State's welfare system, Buffalo News reporter Ed May reveals how ...XIII-"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Welfare Not a Bonanza For Those Truly in Need
June 21, 1960
In the penultimate article in his 14-part series on New York State's welfare program, Ed May explains that while ...XIV--"Our Costly Dilemma" - Ed [Edgar] May - Buffalo Evening News | Some Ways to Lighten The Burdens of Welfare
June 22, 1960
In the final installment of "Our Costly Dilemma," a series about New York State's welfare program, reporter Ed May ..."'Our Costly Dilemma’ and welfare revisited, 50 years later" (Ed May) - Buffalo Evening News
June 13, 2010
A retrospective on the effect of the series, fifty years after it first ran.