In the face of growing international support for recognition of child-headed households, the author poses the following questions: What does the internationally recognised right to alternative care for children entail? Is the recognition of child-headed households as a form of alternative care in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child…

During the economic crises Nicaragua suffered between 2000 and 2002, a conditional cash transfer program targeting poor households began operating. Using panel data on 1,397 households from the program's experimentally designed evaluation, we examined the impact of the program on household structure. Our findings suggest that the program enabled…

Capturing the conditions of children of color living in single-parent families has become more complex due to the growing presence of interracial households. This analysis assesses the size and poverty status of single-female headed families housing multiracial children. Using data from the 2000 Census, we find that 9 percent of female-headed…

This paper examines the dynamics of poverty. Previous analyses of dynamics of poverty have either examined only fluctuations in the male head of family's earnings or looked at the frequency of poverty periods over a fixed time frame. A more appropriate way to understand the dynamics of poverty is to define spells of poverty. Using this…

We looked closely at families who remain in persistent deep poverty in the remote rural areas of one state, using welfare reform as the contextual backdrop. We examined the lives of 10 women who have participated in this qualitative research for over 6 years. The woman heading each family was a welfare program participant; she engaged (more or…

This report analyzes data from the April 1984 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) on households comprised of both Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients and nonrecipients. Of the 3.7 million AFDC households, 32 percent consisted of AFDC recipients and their relatives, as opposed to only recipients. Analysis of the…

We examine race and residential variation in the prevalence of female-headed households with children and how household composition is associated with several key economic well-being outcomes using data from the 2000 5% Public Use Microdata Sample of the U.S. Census. Special attention is paid to cohabiting female-headed households with children…

As a response to the trappings of globalisation and the commoditisation of the sphere of production, women continue to play a crucial role in securing livelihoods by guaranteeing access to food in rural, peri-urban, and urban areas. Based on a survey of food vendors, this paper evaluates women's input through informal earnings, the coping…

Provides an economic analysis of the status of African-American males, arguing that the precarious economic position of African-American males is the leading cause of single female-headed households in African-American communities. Marginalization processes based on low employment have pushed African-American males away from marriage. (SLD)

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. Breaking the inter-generational transmission of poverty requires far-reaching actions in the education sector. Widespread poverty affects both students' performance and their availability to attend…