"Today, the growing economic and social pressures in our country are putting millions of women, children and families at increased risk of abuse and neglect, especially when families are denied basic support services and economic opportunity"
About this Quote
The subtext is a rejection of the comforting myth that family breakdown is mainly about bad choices. Casey is signaling that when wages stagnate, jobs disappear, housing becomes precarious, and healthcare is rationed, the stress concentrates inside the home - where children and women absorb the fallout. By emphasizing denial ("when families are denied..."), he shifts agency upward, toward institutions and elected officials. Someone is choosing scarcity.
Context matters: Casey, a Democratic governor and later U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, built a brand on working-class Catholic populism in the late 20th-century squeeze - deindustrialization, rising inequality, and a political turn toward welfare retrenchment and "personal responsibility" rhetoric. His wording anticipates a fight over what counts as "family values". For Casey, family values are less about scolding and more about scaffolding: childcare, income support, access to work. The line works because it weaponizes compassion as an argument for material policy, insisting that neglect is not just an act; it's a condition we can underwrite or alleviate.
Quote Details
| Topic | Human Rights |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Casey, Robert. (2026, January 16). Today, the growing economic and social pressures in our country are putting millions of women, children and families at increased risk of abuse and neglect, especially when families are denied basic support services and economic opportunity. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/today-the-growing-economic-and-social-pressures-89908/
Chicago Style
Casey, Robert. "Today, the growing economic and social pressures in our country are putting millions of women, children and families at increased risk of abuse and neglect, especially when families are denied basic support services and economic opportunity." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/today-the-growing-economic-and-social-pressures-89908/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Today, the growing economic and social pressures in our country are putting millions of women, children and families at increased risk of abuse and neglect, especially when families are denied basic support services and economic opportunity." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/today-the-growing-economic-and-social-pressures-89908/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
