Using Bourdieu's concept of habitus, a study of 13 rural African-American women examined their experience in a community college work education program. Some resisted the program's ideological message in the context of a community offering few prospects for long-term employment. The program emphasized compliance, passivity, and rules rather than…

Life histories of 74 young black women were examined for direct and indirect transmission of values. Values about work and welfare were associated with employment and perceptions of future self-sufficiency. When such transmissions were unidimensional, limited, or absent, women were more likely to be unemployed and to perceive future economic…

Changes in parenting behavior have led to the troubling situation called the "feminization of poverty." Families headed by divorced women are doing better than is commonly supposed. Families headed by never-married women are doing worse. Public policy should reflect the differing needs of these two groups. (VM)

This paper suggests that the relationship between women and the welfare state is shaped by a "family ethic" that in many ways parallels the work ethic known to shape the relationship between the welfare state and men. The family ethic is defined and applied to major income maintenance programs. (Author/MH)

This study examines the status of former welfare recipients in the District of Columbia (DC), highlighting families who left Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in the last quarter of 1997 and of 1998. Researchers used data from the DC Department of Human Services and interviews with people who left in 1998. Between 1997-99, DC's cash…

Critiques recent welfare reform proposals and recommends social work practices that humanize Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The critique deconstructs the labels "dependent,""addict," and "illegitimate" as they are applied to AFDC mothers and explores the reproduction of stigma through social work…

This report provides information about programs that can be replicated and resources that can be tapped to design and implement strategies for helping women on welfare become productive employees. The first part describes major welfare programs in the United States and welfare-to-work programs initiated in selected states over the past several…

This study examined characteristics of families who remained on welfare, comparing the economic, social, and demographic characteristics of women remaining on welfare to welfare leavers and low-income women who had never been on welfare; how the characteristics and income of employed women on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) compared…

Interview data from a national sample of 30- to 44-year old women who were out of the labor force in 1967 are used to analyze reactions to a hypothetical job offer. (Editor

Refugee assistance programs are typically designed for men, who are greatly outnumbered by refugee women. A critique of training and job development opportunities shows that women are trained to produce items of little demand, those with children have difficulty attending training, and they are reluctant to engage in paid work if it affects their…

Examines a work initiative that moved welfare recipients into jobs as nurse assistants at a geriatric facility. The women's stories describe a welfare-to-work program in practice and illustrate how and why earnest efforts to mediate poverty resulted instead in the continued marginalization and stigmatization of poor people. (RJM)

A British Columbia preemployment program for women on welfare focused on engaging them in identifying their needs and determining content. Brainstorming and popular theatre techniques demonstrated the relevance of learning, helped them discover the extent of their experience and knowledge, engaged them in problem solving and reflection, and…

This study estimates the effect of welfare reform on adolescent behaviors using a difference-indifferences approach. After defining the prereform and reform cohorts and considering the life course development of adolescent behavior by following each cohort from age 14 to age 16, we compare the welfare-target and nontarget populations in the two…

This article provides a brief overview of CASAWORKS for Families (CWF), an innovative intervention designed to help substance-abusing parenting women on welfare. CWF was developed in response to the passage of welfare reform legislation in 1996. Factors that provided a background and context for the development of CWF are considered. The…

A study examined the experiences and perceptions of 27 female welfare recipients who were required to go back to school or lose their welfare benefits. The women were observed as they participated in a highly interactive career and life planning (C&LP) class that met 5.5 hours per day 4 days per week for 1 month. A random sample of the women was…