This evaluation of Massachusett's Employment and Training Choices (ET) program indicates that instead of saving taxpayers money, the program has been costly and has contributed little or nothing to reduce the state's welfare caseload. ET offers welfare recipients a wide variety of employment services, including career planning and job search,…

This study was designed to indicate the level of expressed demand for day care among low income women heading one-parent families in Cleveland and to determine the extent to which this demand is being satisfactorily fulfilled. A total of 123 low income single mothers with children under 14 years of age were contacted by telephone and interviewed…

Interviewed 1,343 single mothers in California who received Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) concerning available child day care options and subsidies. Results suggested that efforts to increase target efficiency in public child day care subsidies by narrowly restricting eligibility may be reducing effectiveness on related policy…

Surveyed 207 parents who were using the Transitional Child Care subsidy 6 months after leaving welfare to examine their characteristics and demographics and illustrate the life circumstances they faced. Findings suggest that income, erratic schedules, and ages of children contribute to the complexities parents face in accessing and using child day…

This longitudinal study examined the California Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) program, which mandated that recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) work, prepare for work, or attend school after their youngest child reached 6 years of age. Interviews with 255 single AFDC mothers with one or more children under the age…

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…

Drawing on census and survey data from 1940 to 1990, this book offers an overview of the dramatic transformations in American childhood over the past 50 years and presents the case for overhauling national child welfare policies. The first chapter examines the life course of children and provides an introduction to the remainder of the book.…

In 1991, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) developed an empirical estimate of the magnitude of the problems mother-only families face in escaping poverty. The GAO also tried to identify federal policies that could help such families. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of the Labor Market Experience of Youth were used to assess the…

This paper examined the case for public subsidization of child care services from the point of view of an economics theory. It was suggested that public subsidization could be justified either as a way to correct a distortion in resource allocation or as a way to change inappropriate income distribution. The allocative argument consisted of three…

This volume is based on papers presented at a conference of social policy experts that looked at the growth in lone-parent families, the problems that have emerged, and their policy implications. Chapter 1 is an "Overview" (Duskin). Three chapters look at demographic trends over time and over the life-cycle; they are: "Demographic…

Although the vast majority of single mothers do not fit the description of an underclass, there is a small group of predominantly black single mothers concentrated in northern urban ghettos that is persistently weakly attached to the labor force, socially isolated, and reproducing itself. Although welfare programs are necessary for those who are…

This is a final progress report on a two-year project that developed a basic and clerical skills training system for women from AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) households that included the establishment of a company employing former trainees. The following were important components: comprehensive education; a day-care facility;…

This Kids Count data book profiles the status of children in Kansas, based on 17 indicators of well being. The indicators are grouped into four areas: (1) economic well-being--births to single teens, children approved for free school meals, and children receiving economic assistance; (2) physical health and safety--child death rates, infant…

This KIDS COUNT data book examines trends in the well-being of Vermont's children. Following an introduction and executive summary, the statistical portrait is presented, based on 18 indicators of child well-being: (1) child poverty; (2) families with children, headed by a single parent; (3) national school lunch program enrollment; (4) children…

This Kids Count report examines trends in the well being of Tennessee's children. The statistical portrait is based on 23 indicators of child well being: (1) single-parent families; (2) family income/poverty; (3) children receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); (4) student participation in school nutrition programs; (5) child…