This manuscript reports on a study of how low-income employed single mothers and young adolescents manage household daily life. Analysis is based on longitudinal ethnographic data collected from families of 35 young adolescents over 3 years following the 1996 welfare reforms. Although mothers worked, young adolescents spent time unsupervised,…

Examined demographic characteristics of 119 mothers participating in a government work incentive program, and identified characteristics predicting successful employment. Total past employment and total months on longest job were associated with becoming employed, suggesting that programs designed to increase work experience may be valuable as…

States with family cap public assistance policies deny or reduce additional welfare benefits to mothers who conceive and give birth to additional children while they are receiving aid. By 1999, 22 states had family cap policies in place. This paper reports estimates of the number and cost implications of infants conceived by mothers receiving…

Female welfare recipients (n=144) and one child of each were interviewed. High levels of human and psychological capital and lower levels of family social ecology barriers predicted more maternal paid employment and psychological well-being. Analyses of nearly 1,200 welfare mothers' archival records correlated low initial capital with greater…

According to data on 212 mothers aged 15 to 21, receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children or Women, Infants, Children assistance; living with parents; and expenditure per student in the state positively influenced teen mothers' education. Food stamps were negatively associated with educational attainment. (SK)

Examined income and food and housing expenditures for the last married year for couples and then five years after marital dissolution in female (N=5,000) respondents to the University of Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Results showed that incomes and expenditures for food, but not for housing, dropped after marital dissolution. (LLL)

A study of 265 welfare mothers attending an urban community college found that not only were nearly three-fifths of the group academically successful, but that an older group of mothers (those over age 25) exhibited a high degree of potential for succeeding in and benefiting from college. (Author)

Considerable research has been done on the relationship between Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits and family structure. Evidence based on cross-state variation in welfare benefits and family structure indicates some nonzero effect of those benefits on marriage and fertility. It shows that time-series trends in family…

Explored model integrating human capital, family resource, employment, and psychosocial factors to explain variation in economic self-sufficiency among 851 single mothers on public assistance. Workplace support was most significant factor affecting degree to which mothers reduced their reliance on welfare as source of household income over…

Explores the implications of the rapid influx of low-income mothers into the work force and the new federal work requirements for the well-being of young children. Reviews data about welfare policy provisions from the 1990s, but notes that such data was generally collected before the influx of low-income mothers into the workforce. (SLD)

Previous research demonstrates that most female heads of families get neither adequate nor regular child support payments. This study provides a quantitative assessment of the nature of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) child support problem, and analyzes the effects of various government policies on success in collecting support…

This paper used data from two rounds of the National Survey of America's Families to examine how families on welfare in 1999 differed from those receiving benefits in 1997 (just prior to when most states implemented their new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families [TANF] policies). Results showed some significant changes in the welfare population…

This brief uses data from the first two waves of the National Survey of America's Families to examine how living arrangements for families with children changed between 1997-99. During the late 1990s, welfare reform efforts centered on moving families from welfare to work. Lost in the discussions of declining caseloads and post-welfare employment…

This brief is one of a series written to help inform public debate surrounding the 2002 reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. The brief examines the level of depressive symptoms among samples of welfare recipients studied in five experimental evaluations of welfare-to-work programs. The brief notes…

Success of job programs seen linked to how family women view their roles. (Editor)