A study was conducted on the transition to adulthood among women, age fourteen through twenty-four, who were high school dropouts or who did not attend college immediately after high school. Data for 1968-73 was gathered in interviews and from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience. The information obtained was related to the…

This report details a study that sought to answer whether welfare reform was meeting its goals of reducing mothers' dependency and boosting children's futures, and whether these reforms were having discernable effects on young children. During the second half of 1998, the study randomly selected 948 single mothers with young children from 5…

This study looked at New Chance, a voluntary randomized trial of an intensive program for teenage mothers and their children that operated nationally between 1989 and 1992. The study examined the effects of maternal psychosocial well being, intensity of work and educational pursuits, home environment, and use of childcare on combined experimental…

The study described in this paper used data from two national samples of families with children to describe the home environments in which welfare children are being raised and to identify the children's health, learning, and behavior problems. The study compared children whose families had received Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)…

A study assessed the relevance of work-based learning approaches used in school-to-work efforts. Evidence indicated that employers were steadily raising the entry requirements into the low end of the labor market. Despite the serious skill deficiencies of welfare recipients, employers felt no responsibility to people who lacked the basic skills…

During summer 1991, a study reviewed efforts of local agencies to implement the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Program. Three local sites in each of 10 states were examined. The field research showed that formal client flowcharts designed by the states and local sites were not yet fully operational and often did not describe actual…

National concern about U.S. competitiveness in the world market has focused attention on the need to improve the work force. The two major 1992 presidential candidates have included training programs as important planks in their campaigns. President Bush has issued two proposals. Initially, he has charged in the Job Training 2000 proposal that the…

This study used data from a cross sectional sample of families with children in New York City to describe the characteristics and well-being of working poor families and to compare them to nonworking poor and nonpoor families. Data were obtained through 20- to 30-minute telephone surveys conducted in 1997 as part of the New York Social Indicators…

This booklet, which is designed to clarify facts regarding the minimum wage's impact on marketplace economics, contains a total of 31 questions and answers pertaining to the following topics: relationship between minimum wages and poverty; impacts of changes in the minimum wage on welfare reform; and possible effects of changes in the minimum wage…

Noting that the mid-1990s are an era of experimentation in welfare initiatives, this publication summarizes 34 research studies on children and welfare reform. Articles include studies of children and parents in poverty, studies of program models likely to have direct implications for children, and outcome evaluations of welfare-to-work programs…

A participatory research model collected stories of the experiences and most pressing problems of mothers on welfare. Over 35 African American, biracial, and Anglo women from an urban community who received cash assistance in a midwestern, largely rural state participated in small group discussions at a job readiness program. An interactive…

Four African-American women, participants in PROBE (Potential Reentry Opportunities in Business and Education), a program to prepare low-income women in Pennsylvania for jobs through computer and communications skills training, were interviewed about their attitudes toward learning. The four were single-parent welfare recipients in their late 20s…

This paper on assessment in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Program for welfare recipients is intended to help administrators of JOBS programs weigh the possible benefits and drawbacks of the assessment choices they must make. Chapter 1 explains why assessment matters to JOBS administrators. Chapter 2 suggests a conceptual framework…

Working diligently, living frugally, and restraining one's lusts and appetites within defensible boundaries have often been classified as middle class values. A growing concern of the U.S. public is the dysfunctional conduct of many of those dependent upon its support. However, society must demonstrate persuasively that rectitude pays. Society…

This monograph examines adult education issues in Minnesota, such as the proper role of the Federal Government, institutions of higher education, the business sector, the non-profit sector, labor unions, the public schools and community education, teachers, public school administrators, and learners in the fight against adult illiteracy in the…