Occupational segregation and structural labor market discrimination contribute to significant socioeconomic disparities afflicting Latinas; these inequalities were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, approximately one in five Latinas were unemployed, registering the highest unemployment rate among all workers. Overall, the Latino…

A long-standing debate questions whether homemakers or working wives are happier. Drawing on cross-national data for 28 countries, this research uses multi-level models to provide fresh evidence on this controversy. All things considered, homemakers are slightly happier than wives who work fulltime, but they have no advantage over part-time…

All OECD governments want to give parents more choice in their work and family decisions. This book looks at the different ways in which governments support families. It seeks to provide answers to questions like: Is spending on family benefits going up, and how does it vary by the age of the child? Has the crisis affected public support for…

This paper develops and estimates a model for the choice of part-time and full-time employment and the decision to pay for childcare among single mothers. The results indicate that a lower childcare price and a higher full-time wage rate both lead to an increase in overall employment and the use of paid childcare. The part-time wage effects are…

Focusing on social factors associated with increased depressive symptoms among working mothers living in poor urban neighborhoods, this study investigates the effects of welfare participation, employment conditions, and child care on women's emotional well-being. The authors use new data from the Philadelphia Survey of Child Care and Work.…

Women are being drawn into the labor force today by powerful economic, demographic, and social forces and far reaching attitudinal changes. Recognition of the reality that women must work, they want to work, and their labor is needed should help us institute policies that would bring about reforms in many areas of life. (Author/GC)

The characteristics, earnings, employment experiences, and material well-being of California welfare recipients after leaving welfare were examined by comparing the postwelfare experiences of groups who exited welfare before and after institution of California's welfare reform program CalWORKs. The first group (pre-CalWORKs group) exited welfare…

Employment, earnings, and poverty among single mothers in New York City and across the United States in the age of welfare reform were examined to identify goals and recommendations for reauthorization of legislation regulating Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The study indicated that although job holding by single mothers has risen…

Five years after the massive overhaul of the nation's welfare system, 21 Maine families receiving public assistance spoke about their lives during welfare reform. The following were among the key themes that emerged throughout the conversations: (1) those leaving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) often remain poor or very nearly poor;…

A representative survey of over 30,000 people aged 16-64 years across the 15 member states of the European Union and Norway sought Europeans' preferences for increasing or reducing the number of hours worked per week. Key finding included the following: (1) 51% preferred to work fewer hours in exchange for lower earnings while 12% preferred to…