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…

Support for WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, is based on the belief that "WIC works." This consensus has lately been questioned by researchers who point out that most WIC research fails to properly control for selection into the program. This paper evaluates the selection problem using rich data…

The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act requires welfare recipients to look for work and has made it more difficult for nonworking recipients to remain on the welfare rolls. In addition, the economic boom of the 1990s and changes in federal and state policies have raised the net income gain associated with moving…

We examine the effects of 10 welfare and employment programs on single mothers' use of Head Start for their 3- to 4-year-old children, considering concurrent program effects on employment, income, and the use of other types of childcare settings. In general, these welfare and employment experiments increased parental employment and the use of…

This paper examines whether AFDC/TANF asset tests affect the asset holdings of low-educated single mothers. Special emphasis is given to vehicle assets that make up a very significant share of total wealth for poor families. Consistent with other recent research, the author finds little evidence that asset limits have an effect on the amount of…

Such factors as a belief in individual freedom of choice, the support of minority groups' rights, and a concern for the psychological effects of mothering on children have tended to mitigate against a clear-cut advocacy of the employment of mothers under Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Two recent phenomena, however, have emerged…

In-depth interviews with 75 California recipients of Aid to Families of Dependent Children (AFDC) were conducted to determine employment histories and identify possible causes. Expected factors such as family size, education, health, and motivation were not major determinants of work histories in this sample. Unemployment was related most strongly…

Higher rates of mental health problems, including depression, have consistently been documented among lower-income samples, and the highest rates of depression have been found among low-income mothers with young children. This study examined maternal depressive symptoms as a risk factor for the development of children who are already at risk by…

This conference examined the current welfare policy and the continued use of higher education as a tool for moving low-income people into self-supporting careers. The proceedings include: welcoming remarks by Stephen Greenwald; keynote addresses by William Spriggs and Danny Simmons; a lunch address by Rae Alexander-Minter; remarks by Patricia…

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

Investigated kin networks, kin network support, and consequences of this support for women's work using data from a national survey of young mothers, both Black and White (n=1,787). Results indicated most young mothers had access to nearby kin, and it was these kin who most often provided child care and income support. (Author/ABL)

Analyzes recent media accounts of teen mothers, identifying interpretive frames associated with the discourses of bureaucratic experts, conservatives, oppositional movements, and the mothers themselves. The dominant discourse is that of the bureaucratic experts who have incentives to tell their own stigma stories about teen mothers. (SLD)

Presents evidence that policy changes in Delaware with regard to welfare reform did influence marriage and childbearing outcomes using survey data from the state's A Better Chance (ABC) program (n=1,547). After 18 months, the program had positive effects on marital cohabitation, but only a small impact on actual fertility, although it reduced the…

Early pregnancy and parenthood are established indicators of high-risk status for both mother and child with regard to future health problems, poverty, and child abuse and neglect. A study was conducted to describe the views of a sample of teenage Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) mothers. Subjects (N=53) were urban teenage mothers…

This study investigated relationships among mothers' social support, individual attributes, social capital, and parenting practices for welfare-participating mothers with young children. Using data from the National Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Strategies, latent profile analysis revealed three classes of mothers, reflecting high, moderate, and…