Access to quality child care profoundly impacts the life chances of low-income single mothers and their children. Tennessee is among the top 10 states with the worst poverty numbers for children, with a poverty rate of 31% for children under six years old. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) sets forth guidelines adopted by state…

Recent trends in U.S. families include increased numbers of single-parent families, stepfamilies, teen pregnancies, working mothers, and children living in poverty. Public policy should focus on affordable housing, access to health and child care, education and job training, and jobs that provide adequate income. (SK)

This fact sheet lists 20 interpreted statistics on women workers. The facts cover the following data: number of women workers and their percentage in the labor force; length of time women are expected to stay in the labor force; racial and ethnic groups in the labor force; part-time and full-time employment; types of occupations in which women are…

This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study [Reichman, N., Teitler, J., Garfinkel, I., & McLanahan, S. (2001). The fragile families and child wellbeing study: Sample and design. "Children and Youth Services Review, 23", 303-326] to describe primary child care arrangements of employed, predominantly low-income mothers…

Reviews current trends, predictions and statistics concerning single-parent families living in poverty, and appeals for networks which would coordinate the cooperative efforts of all organizations, institutions, businesses, agencies, groups, and individual volunteers who provide services for single-parent families. Offers guidelines for networks…

Urban women are better off in labor force participation and poverty than women in central city and rural areas. Differences in access to jobs and welfare benefits explain the urban-rural variation. Finds that the most important factor for not living in poverty is earning income. Recommends policies for reducing poverty among single, working…

This paper deals with child care arrangements of working mothers highlighting the current controversies over the types of care which families use, the fees paid, and the costs of different modes of child care. The special problems of implementing national day care programs are reviewed, including the case for subsidized care, the costs of meeting…

In 1992, 12 million families were maintained by women in the United States--a figure that more than doubled since 1970 when there were only 5.6 million such families. They accounted for 14.8 percent of all families in 1980 and 17.6 percent in 1992. Women maintained 3.5 million Black families in 1992; this represented nearly half of all Black…

Researchers have investigated whether significant numbers of people can earn their way out of long-term poverty. Statistics show that between 1980 and 1986, the number of District of Columbia residents living in poverty increased by 8 percent. Between 1970 and 1980, the numbers of poor people living in the same area with other poor people…

A study was conducted in Kentucky to increase the database available to the state's decision makers concerning women in relation to family status, occupational participation, income and earnings, and issues and concerns that may need greater emphases. Data were gathered through Kentucky government agencies and the U.S. Bureau of the Census as well…

The validity of the notion that welfare receipt is equivalent to "dependency" and work represents "self-sufficiency" was examined in a qualitative study during which 214 recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and 165 low-wage single mothers in 4 U.S. cities were interviewed. The women were contacted…

The proceedings of a House of Representatives hearing on opportunities for self-sufficiency for single women in poverty are presented in this document. Included are statements presented by three panels consisting of experts in the field of welfare and employment policy, the General Accounting Office, and representatives of the National Association…

This book, through a review of the status of working women on bottom and on the top, refutes a set of myths about women, work, and poverty that have shaped welfare reform. Chapter 1 highlights the big changes affecting women in the U.S. economy. Chapter 2 describes who is poor in the United States and examines how poverty has come to be defined.…

This document contains 15 papers on poverty, low-wage work, and survival in the global economy, with emphasis on the following topics: identity and the meaning of work; making decisions about work, family, and welfare; and paths toward change. The following papers are included: "Identity as a Weapon in the Moral Politics of Work and…

During the 1920s, progressive women activists invented welfare to help mothers and their children survive when breadwinning fathers either died or abandoned their families. During the 1930s, the local mothers' pension programs of the Progressive Era became part of the emerging national welfare state, which was conceived to relieve poor single…