This conference presentation explores current patterns of public transfer receipt (such as earned income tax credit, public health insurance coverage, food stamps, and public assistance) among single-father families and provides an update on existing census-based research on characteristics of single-father families. Data were obtained from the…

The State University of New York (SUNY) Bridge Program is a federally funded work force preparation program that was initiated in October 1992 to help mothers receiving welfare achieve self-sufficiency by helping them acquire job skills. The program is housed at the Urban League of Northeastern New York and SUNY's 10 educational opportunity…

The United States has been through anti-immigration movements every few decades since its founding. A new face of the anti-immigration movement can be seen emerging from current events including: (1) California's Proposition 187, under which illegal immigrants are barred from public education and teachers are required to report illegal immigrants…

This paper discusses the "Better Jobs and Income Act," President Carter's proposed welfare reform bill. Brief attention is given to speculation on "first order effects" of the bill. Effects considered concern the equity and the adequacy of the bill. Major attention is directed toward "second order effects,"…

This publication consists of materials from a conference session on creative programming for the children of low-skilled individuals who are usually labeled as "at risk," as well as the replicability of such programs. Contents consist of handouts and/or transparency masters that provide the following: (1) information on the Personal…

North Carolina's Work First (WF) program, like other welfare reform programs, incorporates personal responsibility contracts; paid work, volunteer work, or school requirements; and time limitations. Using telephone interviews, this study examined perceptions of 31 former welfare recipients who were enrolled in the North Carolina Work First (WF)…

A survey conducted at University of Wisconsin System institutions was designed to help decision makers determine how many women students were on welfare and to find out the interaction between welfare and student financial aid in relation to expenses incurred in higher education. Women students vary in financial, marital, and parental status, and…

This paper reports on attitudes toward welfare and poverty among male and female students at a university in rural eastern Kentucky. The area has high poverty rates and low educational and employment levels, particularly among women. A 60-statement survey covering a wide range of social issues was completed by 390 undergraduates. About two-thirds…

As welfare programs have grown more costly, it has become obvious that they merely treat the symptom, poverty, instead of the problem, unemployment. Jobs increasingly require higher levels of skills and better educated workers. Since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 has ended the federal guarantee of…

This paper examines patterns of change in the number of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan Texas counties, 1980-1990. Specifically, the paper analyzes how changes in AFDC enrollment can be explained by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and the extent to which factors explaining…

Interviews with 265 low-income women examined demographic factors, maternal and child educational experiences, and social support factors, with a focus on urban-rural differences. The women lived in Kansas, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida, and ranged in age from 16 to 55; 94 percent had children and 80 percent were not currently married. The results…

The federally mandated welfare program Jobs Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) was preceded in Kansas by KANWORK, a pilot effort in four counties designed to initiate job preparedness and esteem-building programs. KANWORK, which was to be mandatory for certain public assistance recipients, included education, job skills training, job readiness…

JOBS (Job Opportunities in the Business Sector) participation data from federal reports for December 1990 were reviewed for 9 of the 10 states of the South (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee). Kentucky information was not available at the time of review. Although federal…

Questions raised by previous research on poverty, addressing the comparative trends in black and white family stability, and the cumulative nature of poverty linked characteristics are studied here. In addressing critical issues resulting from previous research, this study further elucidates the concepts of marital and family stability, uses the…

The revision of Elementary Secondary Education Act Title I provides an excellent opportunity for examining the dynamics of educational policy making at the Federal level and the parameters of the educational subsystem that determines educational policy. It provides a fascinating interplay of the demands for greater rationality in public policy and…