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Full-Text Articles in Social Work
Serving No One Well: Tanf Nearly Twenty Years Later, Kristin S. Seefeldt
Serving No One Well: Tanf Nearly Twenty Years Later, Kristin S. Seefeldt
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The 1996 welfare reform law transformed the nation’s cash welfare system into a time-limited, work-based program. Welfare caseloads dropped by more than half, but in more recent years and in the wake of the Great Recession, relatively little research has focused on TANF program participation, particularly from the vantage point of clients and potential clients. This paper uses qualitative data from interviews with very low-income single mothers conducted in 2013. Analysis of the interview data yielded three different narratives regarding how TANF did not meet their needs: it did not help them find jobs; it did not assist those with …
Impact Of Social Capital On Employment And Marriage Among Low Income Single Mothers, Jennifer A. Johnson, Julie A. Honnold, Perry Threlfall
Impact Of Social Capital On Employment And Marriage Among Low Income Single Mothers, Jennifer A. Johnson, Julie A. Honnold, Perry Threlfall
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA, P. L. 104-93) called primarily on women to achieve two goals: work and/or marriage. For low income single mothers with limited access to capital, the PRWORA presents a quagmire in that the public safety nets previously guaranteed by the policies of the New Deal were abruptly supplanted by policies with obligations that require various forms of capital. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing dataset, we examine the impact of social capital on the chances of marriage and employment among single, unemployed mothers. We find …
Economic Mobility Of Single Mothers: The Role Of Assets And Human Capital Development, Min Zhan
Economic Mobility Of Single Mothers: The Role Of Assets And Human Capital Development, Min Zhan
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This study examines the economic mobility of single mothers. It highlights the relationships between single mothers' financial assets and human capital development (educational advancement, job training, and work hours) with their economic mobility. Analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) indicates that assets may help improve upward economic mobility. Assets, however, have differential impact on single mothers with different income levels. In addition, human capital development mediates the positive link between assets and the economic mobility for mothers living between the 100% and 200% federal poverty. These results support asset building as an investment strategy to …
Lone Mothers And Welfare-To-Work Policies In Japan And The United States: Towards An Alternative Perspective, Aya Ezawa, Chisa Fujiwara
Lone Mothers And Welfare-To-Work Policies In Japan And The United States: Towards An Alternative Perspective, Aya Ezawa, Chisa Fujiwara
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This paper compares recent efforts to reduce lone mothers' reliance on cash assistance and support their increased participation in the workforce and economic independence in Japan and the United States. Similar to reforms introduced in the U.S. in 1996, lone mother policies in Japan have been subject to a series of cuts leading to the introduction of time limits and work-related programs in 2002. In this paper, we examine the character of recent welfare reforms in both countries and their implications for lone mothers' welfare and economic independence. Based on Japan's experience and recent lessons from the U.S., we show …
Economic Well-Being Of Single Mothers: Work First Or Postsecondary Education?, Min Zhan, Shanta Pandey
Economic Well-Being Of Single Mothers: Work First Or Postsecondary Education?, Min Zhan, Shanta Pandey
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
This article investigates the relationship between single mothers' education and their economic well-being. Through the analysis of the 1993 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data, we examine the effect of education on a sample of White and African American single mothers. The results indicate that past work experience is a weak predictor of current economic well-being. Having education, particularly postsecondary education, on the other hand, significantly improves their economic status. The results challenge the "work-first" approach to alleviating poverty and provide more support for designing policies to develop human capital.
What Mothers Want: Welfare Reform And Maternal Desire, Patricia K. Jennings
What Mothers Want: Welfare Reform And Maternal Desire, Patricia K. Jennings
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
In this study I use participant observations,face-to-face interviews, and focus group interviews to examine how women on welfare read and negotiate culture-of-poverty discourse and the imagery that this discourse spawns. I spoke with two groups of young single mothers receiving welfare. The first group included young mothers between the ages of 18 and 23 who were attending high school in a community-based program that served women on welfare. The second group included mothers in their early to mid 20's who were attending either a local two-year college or research university. Education was a path of resistance for the women in …
Finding And Keeping Affordable Housing: Analyzing The Experiences Of Single-Mother Families In North Philadelphia, Susan Clampet-Lundquist
Finding And Keeping Affordable Housing: Analyzing The Experiences Of Single-Mother Families In North Philadelphia, Susan Clampet-Lundquist
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
The location, availability, and quality of housing shapes one's social networks, affects access to jobs, and impacts on social relations within the housing unit. However, access to affordable housing is limited for a significant portion of the population in the urban United States. In this study, I interviewed eighteen African-American and Puerto Rican single mothers in two low-income neighborhoods of Philadelphia about how they create and maintain their housing arrangements. Within the constraints of an affordable housing shortage, women told me how they struggle to share housing with others, rehab abandoned properties, live in substandard housing, and remain in unsafe …