We estimate the effect of welfare reform on the intergenerational transmission of welfare participation and related economic outcomes using a long panel of mother-daughter pairs over the survey period 1968-2013 in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Because states implemented welfare reform at different times starting in 1992, the cross-state…

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…

Background/Context: In light of increasingly common, non-traditional pathways to college enrollment and potential importance of post-secondary education for family wellbeing, this article examines maternal college enrollment. I employ a sociological application of rational action theory in which costs of reentry, probability of success, and…

The welfare reform was a revolution, for academe as well as social policy. In the 1990s, work requirements in the main family aid program were sharply stiffened, and largely as a result, more than two-thirds of welfare mothers left the rolls, with most of those departing entering jobs. It was the most radical change in American domestic policy…

Using human capital theory, this paper identifies the factors that may affect the opportunity for rural low-income mothers to pursue post-secondary education or training in order to escape poverty. Dependent variables used in the logistic regression model included micro-level household variables as well as the effects of state-wide welfare…

Analyzed durability of child-care arrangements, using data from 1983-84 longitudinal survey of welfare mothers conducted in three cities. Findings indicated that family day care arrangements were least durable; however, care in a center was not more durable than care provided by a child's relatives. Only convenience, with respect to location and…

We examined the influence of income source within the context of persistent poverty on children's disruptive classroom behavior at age 12 and whether these associations were mediated by maternal supervision at ages 10 and 11. Using a subsample (N = 1,112) from the Quebec Longitudinal Study, we coded four economic circumstances indicating…

Decries the contradictions of a corporate state that benefits from poverty and promotes "family values" while devaluing the life-affirming child-rearing work done in private. Argues that life-affirming perspectives should guide adult educators to unlearn "bottom-line" thinking in their educational efforts. (SK)

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…

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…

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)

Drawing on 1998-99 survey and ethnographic data from research on the implementation and effects of welfare reform in four large cities, this paper describes the food security of mother-headed families in highly disadvantaged urban neighborhoods who had received or currently receive cash welfare benefits. The families of four groups of women were…

This book provides new estimates of the private costs and public effects of childhood disabilities among welfare recipients. Based on over 2,000 interviews conducted between 1992-96 with household heads in 3 California counties, the estimates cover direct expenditures by families and indirect costs from employment reductions. The study finds that…

Analyzes the impact of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 on labor markets, especially the low-wage labor market. Because family stability requires that someone do family work, cutbacks that have been justified by invoking traditional family values will almost surely contribute to the continued erosion of family life.…

This 1999 study assessed whether laws protecting low-income people's rights were being followed and whether people on public assistance were receiving appropriate information about child care. Surveys of 92 parents, predominantly women, indicated that most were concerned about being sanctioned if they were unable to work (often because their…