welfare queen

English

Etymology

1970s, popularized during Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign, but not used by Reagan himself.[1]

Noun

welfare queen (plural welfare queens)

  1. (US, derogatory) A woman collecting welfare, seen as doing so out of laziness, rather than genuine need.
    • 1976 February 29, “‘Welfare Queen’ Loses Her Cadillac Limousine”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
      Miss Taylor, who is 40 years old, has been called Illinois’ “welfare queen” for allegedly defrauding Illinois and other states out of welfare payments while using a number of aliases.
    • 1994, Lisa Jones, Bulletproof Diva: Tales of Race, Sex, and Hair‎, Anchor Books, published 1995, →ISBN:
      Martin isn't a typecast welfare queen sucking the nation dry, as Thomas seemed to suggest, but a single woman like his own mother, who worked low-paying jobs without benefits to support her family and turned to relatives for help.
    • 1994, Marian Wright Edelman, Measure of Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours, Beacon Press, published 1994, →ISBN, page 113:
      Welfare queens can't hold a candle to corporate kings in raiding the public purse.
    • 2008, Earl Sewell, If I Were Your Boyfriend, Kimani TRU, published 2008, →ISBN, page 125:
      […] You need to go on back to the ghetto and make a bunch of ghetto babies and live off of welfare. I heard that you and your mama were welfare queens.”

See also

References
  1. Sam Dolnick (2019 May 20) “The Life and Crimes of America’s Original ‘Welfare Queen’”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN: “Reagan didn’t use the phrase “welfare queen” — he left that to the headline writers. His euphemism was “the woman in Chicago,” but the message was clear.”
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