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…

This annotated bibliography describes 78 resources on improving access to higher education for low income women. It covers the literature for the period 1950 to 1990 and reflects the emergence of a new hybrid policy area that combines higher education and public welfare. Entries either directly address the issue of access to higher education for…

A study used data on the characteristics, Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program activities, and quarterly earnings of about 6,500 adult female Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients who enrolled in JTPA programs in 11 states during Program Year 1986. The study tracked the experiences of the women in the JTPA programs and…

This report presents the findings of a preliminary assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) programs, the welfare-to-work centerpiece of the Family Support Act, for moving Puerto Rican welfare recipients closer to self-sufficiency. Programs in Newark (New Jersey), New York City, and Philadelphia…

A study assessed the pilot phase of a program called New Chance, which offers intensive, comprehensive, long-term services to young mothers, 17 to 21 years old, all of whom are poor and most of whom are welfare recipients and high school dropouts. Program services, which center on education, occupational skills training, parenting and health…

A Cuyahoga County, Ohio, study focused on two cohorts: pre-Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) leavers who left in the third quarter of 1996 and post-TANF leavers who left in the third quarter of 1998. Outcomes were examined for about 6,151 adult welfare leavers. Findings indicated the rate of leaving welfare increased between 1996-98;…

In response to the increasing numbers of homeless families, Homes for the Homeless surveyed families in emergency shelters in Newark (New Jersey) to gain some insights into the characteristics and circumstances of urban homeless families. Newark was chosen because it is a large urban center with a high concentration of welfare recipients that is…

The National Women's Employment and Education project (NWEE), sponsored by the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, was a fast-paced effort designed to serve 20 women each month, 240 each year. The training concept was quite different from traditional programs in that NWEE's thrust was to move women quickly into jobs. The program…

California's Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) program provides job services, as well as training, education, and support services to Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients to help them attain unsubsidized employment. The GAIN program includes an initial appraisal of participants' basic reading, mathematics, and functional…

A group of interested and academically qualified female Aid to Families with Dependent Children recipients was identified to participate in the assessment of a demonstration program to train female Work incentive Program (WIN) participants. Training for electronics technicians was conducted at DeVry Institute of Technology (Chicago) and Ohio…

This report examines the prevalence and severity of health problems that hinder welfare recipients' ability to get and hold jobs, using data from interviews with women who in May 1995 received welfare and lived in four poor, urban areas. The study compared the health of women who had left welfare and were working, who combined welfare and work,…

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, is a window on the activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women. The report typically features news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, announcements of new publications, and…

Passed in November 1994, California's Proposition 187 was intended to deny public school education and health care to undocumented immigrants and their children. The rhetoric of current anti-immigrant hysteria has shifted from that of recent decades and relies on both racist and sexist imagery. This narrative shift, with its emphasis on women and…

Analyzed data from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to determine whether impact of adolescent childbearing on women's subsequent contact with welfare system differed for Black women and White women (n=1,894). Results supported hypothesized patterns of association between early birth, educational attainment, years spent as single parent, years…

The spectrum of women-owned businesses ranges from full corporations to microenterprises. Women business owners share many characteristics and motivations of business owners generally; other factors are dissatisfaction with "glass ceiling" limits, desire for job flexibility, and age discrimination. Women entrepreneurs often face barriers…