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Childcare, Mothers' Work, And Earnings: Findings From The Urban Slums Of Guatemala City, Kelly Hallman, Agnes R. Quisumbing, Marie T. Ruel, Benedicte De La Briere

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study investigates the effects of childcare on work and earnings of mothers in the slums of Guatemala City. Recognizing that mother’s work behavior may depend on the availability of childcare, the modeling approach allows participation in the labor force and use of formal daycare to be jointly determined. We also investigate whether a mother’s “status” within her household (as measured by the value of the assets she brought to her marriage) influences her entry into the labor force. Finally, we explore the impact of childcare prices on a mother’s earnings, conditional on her decision to work. The study uses …

Childcare, Mothers' Work, And Earnings: Findings From The Urban Slums Of Guatemala City [Arabic], Kelly Hallman, Agnes R. Quisumbing, Marie T. Ruel, Benedicte De La Briere

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study investigates the effects of childcare on work and earnings of mothers in the slums of Guatemala City. Recognizing that mother’s work behavior may depend on the availability of childcare, the modeling approach allows participation in the labor force and use of formal daycare to be jointly determined. We also investigate whether a mother’s “status” within her household (as measured by the value of the assets she brought to her marriage) influences her entry into the labor force. Finally, we explore the impact of childcare prices on a mother’s earnings, conditional on her decision to work. The study uses …

Book Review. Ordinary Resurrections: Children In The Years Of Hope By Jonathan Kozol, Michael Jenuwine, Jane E. Barden

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Language Interpretation Services On Medical Visit Patterns Of Patients With Limited English Proficiency, Anita Marie Kay

Dissertations and Theses

Due largely to immigration, a growing proportion of the U.S. population does not speak English well enough to communicate with medical providers. Many research studies have described ways in which language differences can compromise health care quality and access for language minority groups, but professional interpreter services are rarely provided due to costs of services and to increasing cultural and linguistic diversity among patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). Some researchers have argued that costs of interpreter services could be offset through enabling LEP patients to maintain better health and use health services more cost-effectively, such as obtaining care in …

Impact Of The Earned Income Credit And The Working Family Credit On Limited Resource Families In Minnesota, Elizabeth J. Sandell, Donna Bailey

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Empowering The Next Generation: Girls Of The Maqattam Garbage Settlement [Arabic], Marie Assaad, Judith Bruce

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This edition of SEEDS explores the challenge of extending earning opportunities and access to valued social roles to young women in the garbage settlement of Maqattam, Egypt. This edition furthermore underscores the degree to which livelihood programs must confront the social circumstances—such as health, marriage, and cultural and family traditions—that play a major role in shaping girls' current and future economic prospects.

Empowering The Next Generation: Girls Of The Maqattam Garbage Settlement, Marie Assaad, Judith Bruce

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This edition of SEEDS explores the challenge of extending earning opportunities and access to valued social roles to young women in the garbage settlement of Maqattam, Egypt. This edition furthermore underscores the degree to which livelihood programs must confront the social circumstances—such as health, marriage, and cultural and family traditions—that play a major role in shaping girls' current and future economic prospects.

Out Of The Shadows: Homebased Workers Organize For International Recognition, Renana Jhabvala, Jane Tate

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Home-based work is a vital and growing part of economic modernization, exponentially linked to the globalization of industry and the never-ending search for less costly sources of labor and more efficient means of production. As governments seek to attract industrial development, the availability of low-cost labor and labor stability is a valuable bargaining commodity. Furthermore, the income it produces is not supplementary but rather increasingly vital to families and nations alike. The women who embroider on the island of Madeira, Portugal, the home-based workers assembling electronic devices in Brazil, the Chinese women machine stitching garments at home in major cities …

Supporting Women Farmers In The Green Zones Of Mozambique, Ruth Ansah Ayisi

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Women throughout much of the developing world are farmers, not only producing the food crops needed to feed their families, but seeking to generate the cash income necessary to gain access to education, health care, and a better way of life. However, in many countries—particularly in sub-Saharan Africa—women farmers must deal not only with the inherent difficulties of gender inequities, poverty, and the vagaries of nature, but with the consequences of war and civil strife as well. This issue of SEEDS reports on a case study of the efforts underway to help women farmers survive and prosper in the Green …

Masking Dependency: The Political Role Of Family Rhetoric, Martha Fineman

Faculty Articles

In this Article, I want to explore the schizophrenic nature of the interaction between social ideals and empirical observations concerning dependency. I am particularly interested in the family as a social and political construct that facilitates this interaction. Specifically, I argue that continued adherence to an unrealistic and unrepresentative set of assumptions about the family affects the way we perceive and attempt to solve persistent problems of poverty and social welfare. In the normative conclusions that are generated and reiterated in political and popular discussions about family, we assess the "justice" of particular policies addressing societal problems with reference to …

Adolescent Runaways: The Significance Between Non-Runaways And Runaways And Their Perceptions Of Self, Their Parents And Their World, Mary E. Burrichter

Graduate Theses

Adolescents who run away from home cause major problems for themselves, for their parents, and for society. In this study runaways (n = 112) are compared to non-runaways (n = 211) in their perceptions- of self, their parents and the world in which they live by use of a self-reporting survey. It was hypothesized that runaways would have perceptions of self, parents, and the world that would be skewed to society's unacceptable end of the scale. T-tests were performed on the difference of the means of each variable for the runaways and non-runaways. Out of 13 variables for each, a …

Self-Employment As A Means To Women's Economic Self-Sufficiency: Women Venture's Business Development Program, Katharine Mckee, Sara Gould, Ann Leonard

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

While the "feminization of poverty" has been widely recognized as a global phenomenon in recent years, the term originated in the United States where the number of women and women-headed households living in poverty is growing. This is especially true in the inner cities where fewer unskilled jobs remain; likewise, in rural communities, many factories have closed, family farming is declining, and few other nonfarm options are available. Today these American women face many of the same obstacles that limit women's economic participation in all parts of the world. This issue of SEEDS focuses on the evolution of WomenVenture's business …

Wasteland Development And The Empowerment Of Women: The Sarthi Experience, Madhu Sarin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This issue of SEEDS describes an innovative approach to rehabilitation of wastelands developed by Social Action for Rural and Tribal Inhabitants of India (SARTHI), a nongovernmental organization based in the Panchmahals District of Gujarat State in Western India. By assisting rural women to organize themselves around the rehabilitation of patches of degraded common land, SARTHI has been able to help them not only meet their needs for biomass in a more efficient and ecologically sound manner, but also to empower them to start asserting themselves in dealing with a broader range of problems. As primary gatherers and users of biomass, …

Aménagement Des Terres Incultes Et Émancipation Des Femmes L'Expérience De Sarthi, Madhu Sarin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Ce numéro de SEEDS est consacré a une approche innovative ayant pour but d’aménager des terres incultes, développée par Action Sociale en faveur des population rurales et autochtones d’lnde (SARTHI), une organisation non gouvernementale basée dans le district de Panchmahals dans l’État de Gujarat en Inde occidentale. En aidant les femmes rurales à s’organiser pour mettre en valeur des lopins de terres communaux, SARTHI a permis à ces femmes de satisfaire leurs besoins en biomasse de façon plus efficace et saine d’'un point de vue écologique et d’améliorer d’autres aspects de leur vie. Étant donné que ce sont essentiellement les …

It'll Take More Than A Miracle: Income In Single-Mother Families In Massachusetts, 1979-1987, Chris Tilly, Randy Albelda

McCormack Graduate School General Publications (active until 2013)

Through the 1980s, the Massachusetts economy grew rapidly. Most Massachusetts families benefited from this economic boom, and saw their incomes rise much more rapidly than the U.S. average. But Massachusetts single mothers and their children, who started out with lower incomes than other families, experienced only minimal income growth, and fell further behind other families in the Bay State. In this paper, we analyze income differences among family types in Massachusetts. We pay special attention to the problems of single mothers, and offer a set of policy recommendations to address these problems.

In order to undertake this analysis, we classify …

Race And Ethnic Variation In The Schooling Consequences Of Female Adolescent Sexual Activity, Renata Forste, Marta Tienda

Faculty Publications

Data from the National Survey of Families and Households are used to examine the influence of adolescent childbearing and marriage on the likelihood of high school completion among a cohort of women aged 20 to 29 in 1987. Use of event history techniques reveals striking differences by ethnicity. While the effect of teen marriage on school completion was significant only for whites, adolescent childbearing had much stronger deleterious effects for Latinas than for white or especially black teens. Attitudinal data are presented in an effort to explain these differences.

Faire Oeuvre De Pionnier: Atteindre Les Femmes Agriculteurs En Zambie Occidentale, Janice Jiggins, Paul Maimbo, Mary Masona

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Au cours des dernières décennies, des projets à petite-échelle furent mis en place sur I'ensemble du continent africain pour tenter d'incorporer les femmes aux politiques de développement agricole. Dans ce numéro de SEEDS, on présente un exemple particulièrement éloquent qui vient de la Province Occidentale de la Zambie—le Programme de Vulgarisation à I'intention des Femmes à partir des locaux de la division "Économie ménagère" du Département de I'Agriculture. Le projet en question vise à operer un changement radical de la manière dont fonctionne une bureaucratie agricole en redéfinissant les mandates, en encourageant un changement d'attitude par le biais de programmes …

Breaking New Ground: Reaching Out To Women Farmers In Western Zambia, Janice Jiggins, Paul Maimbo, Mary Masona

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Over the last few decades, small-scale projects have been developed throughout Africa to help incorporate women farmers into the mainstream of agricultural extension services. This edition of SEEDS presents an interesting example from Zambia's Western Province—the Women's Extension Program, located within the Home Economics Section of the Department of Agriculture. This program is working to change a government agricultural bureaucracy from within by redefining mandates, encouraging attitude change through staff training, broadening village-level opportunities and perceptions, and widening technical and economic research agendas. The program’s experience emphasizes the importance of using a variety of approaches in order to effectively reach …

Abriendo Nuevos Zurcos: Apoyando A Las Agricultoras En El Oeste De Zambia, Janice Jiggins, Paul Maimbo, Mary Masona

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

En años recientes se han llevado a cabo varios proyectos de pequeña escala en todo el continente africano con el fin de incorporar a las agricultoras en los servicios oficiales de apoyo a la agricultura. Esta edición de SEEDS presenta un interesante ejemplo de este tipo de iniciativa realizado en la Provincia Occidental de la República de Zambia—el Programa de Extensión para Mujeres de la División de Economía Doméstica del Departamento de Agricultura. El objetivo del proyecto es hacer un cambio radical en la manera en que funciona una burocracia agrícola al redefinir los mandatos, fomentar un cambio de actitud …

Images Of Mothers In Poverty Discourses, Martha Albertson Fineman

Faculty Articles

This Essay focuses on the construction of the concept of "Mother" in poverty discourses. It addresses the role of patriarchical ideology in the process whereby a characteristic typical of a group of welfare recipients has been selected and identified as constituting the cause as well as the effect of poverty. I am particularly interested in those political and professional discourses in which single Mother status is defined as one of the primary predictors of poverty. This association of characteristic with cause has fostered suggestions that an appropriate and fundamental goal of any proposed poverty program should be the eradication of …

Intimacy Outside Of The Natural Family: The Limits Of Privacy, Martha Albertson Fineman

Faculty Articles

In this paper I undertake a very pragmatic and focused consideration of whether it is possible to rework existing legal concepts of privacy in a way that would be ideologically compatible with dominant social norms in order to shield single mothers from excessive state regulation and supervision. I ultimately conclude that my desire to protect the decisionmaking autonomy and the dignity of poor and/or single mothers cannot be satisfied by resort to this area of law. At the constitutional level, this is so because notions of privacy are typically articulated as rights belonging to individuals, not family entities. And …

The Port Sudan Small Scale Enterprise Program, Eve Hall

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Euro-Action ACORD (EAA) is a consortium of 20 European and Canadian aid agencies working in refugee farming settlements in Central and Southern Sudan, and with various rural development projects in other parts of Africa, which responded to a request from the Sudanese Commissioner of Refugees to work in Port Sudan. This was the first time the agency considered working with poor urban people, and staff were determined to understand the economic and social forces which governed life in the slums. The program noted a number of findings that will help determine its future: reaching out to women where they live …

Developing Non-Craft Employment For Women In Bangladesh, Marty Chen

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Too often when development planners or practitioners plan income-generating schemes for women they consider only handicrafts. While in some situations craft production may provide a secure source of income for women, in many cases it results in poor returns and proves more complicated an undertaking than expected. The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) is one agency that has developed a successful program of non-craft employment opportunities for women. Some 10,000 poor women have been engaged by BRAC in viable economic schemes: 9,000 in non-craft production. This issue of SEEDS reviews BRAC's experience in developing non-craft employment opportunities and participatory associations …

Creación De Empleos Distintos De Las Artesanías Para Las Mujeres De Bangladesh, Marty Chen

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Con demasiada frecuencia los planificadores profesionales del desarrollo que diseñan proyectos destinados a producir ingresos para las mujeres, lo único que consideran son las artesanías. Si bien es cierto que en determinadas circunstancias éstas pueden proporcionarles una renta segura, en muchos otros casos las artesanías dan poco rendimiento y resultan ser una empresa mas complicada de lo que se esperaba. El Comité de Adelanto Rural de Bangladesh (BRAC—sigla de su nombre en inglés, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), es una organización que ha logrado desarrollar con éxito un programa de oportunidades de empleo femenino, distinto de las artesanías. De las 10.000 …

Reaganism And The Poor Family: Life On Afdc After The Budget Cuts, Norman L. Wyers, Robert C. Holloway

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Recent changes in federal and state welfare policies have had negative consequences for public welfare recipients. This paper summarizes a study which focused on the impact of these policy changes on the AFDC population in the most populous region of Oregon. Of particular importance are the changes in income levels, employment, and social service utilization of recipients. Personal reactions of recipients are also reviewed, as are expectations for the future. The differential economic impact of the policy changes on various categories of recipients is stressed.

The Working Women's Forum: Organizing For Credit And Change, Marty Chen

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This issue of SEEDs tells the story of how the Working Women's Forum came into being in Madras, India and how it has brought together more than 13,000 poor, urban women around the issue of credit. It also describes how the Forum has not only provided its members with access to funds, but has expanded to include support services such as child care, education, health, and family planning and how the sense of strength and purpose that has grown up among the members is helping them to tackle the political and social problems that affect their lives.

Le Forum Pour Les Femmes Actives: Lutte Pour Le Crédit Et Le Changement, Marty Chen

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Ce numéro de SEEDS retrace les différentes étapes qui ont mené à la création du Forum pour les Femmes à Madras, Inde et comment plus de 13,000 femmes pauvres ont pu, grâce à cette organisation, avoir accès au crédit. II décrit également comment le Forum a diversifié ses activités pour fournir à ses membres d'autres services, notamment dans le domaine de l'éducation, la santé, et la planification familiale et montre comment le fait de se sentir solidaires et reconnues permet à ses membres de mieux faire face aux problèmes politiques et sociaux qui affectent leur vie.

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This issue of …

Historic Trends In The Delivery Of Services To Teenage Parents, Nancy Aries

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper will examine the political, social, and economic factors which underlie the transition in services from unwed mothers to teenage parents over the past 15 years. The experience of agencies in the Boston area serves as the basis for this case study. Data have been collected from open-ended interviews with key service providers who have developed and implemented policy related to adolescent parents.

The findings indicate that, prior to 1960, agencies were responding to what was perceived as individual problems or circumstances. Illegitimacy was thought to be an unconscious attempt by white middle class women to fulfill psychological needs. …

Strategic Uses Of The Rules Of Order - National Women’S Conference., National Women's Conference

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

A guide to using the Rules of Order for debate. November 19-21, 1977.

Cause Of Death And Socioeconomic Structures Of Towns In Connecticut, Thomas E. Steahr, Ronald Pitruzzello

Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station

No abstract provided.