The Great Recession and U.S. Safety Nets: The Case of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)

The Great Recession Officially lasted from December 2007 to June 2009 Most severe recession since Great Depression In the first quarter of 2012 about 30% of jobless workers had been unemployed for a year or longer From 2007 to 2009, real personal income per capita fell by 8.3 percentage points and many individuals dropped from the labor force The Safety Nets for Families with Children Unemployment Insurance Medicaid Earned Income Tax Credit Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Subsidized Housing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF

Impact of Short Lifetime Limits on Child Neglect

The Great Recession that officially began in December 2007 nationally resulted in a loss of income on the part of many families with children who in turn, relied on a variety of safety nets, including cash assistance from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Loss of income has been recognized as a major risk factor of child maltreatment, in particular child neglect. During its 2007 recession, Arizona shortened its TANF lifetime limits substantially which resulted in transfer income losses for many families with children on TANF. Using time-series analysis, the present study determines the relative impact of TANF’s shorter than 60-month time limits on the Arizona’s child neglect caseload. This paper shows that there is a strong inverse relationship between child neglect and the decrease in the number of families receiving cash assistance from TANF. Key findings reveal that all else constant, under the presence of 36-month time limit there was an increase of 190 more children substantiated for neglect in the state of Arizona (p \u3c .001). The corresponding figure under the 24 month life time limit was 461 cases per month (p \u3c .001). This study reminds us that policies in one program should not be implemented in a vacuum but rather that their consequences for children and families in related programs need to be closely analyzed

The Impact of the Economy and Welfare Policy on Welfare Accessions: Implications for Future Reforms

This longitudinal study analyzes the impact of labor market conditions and welfare policies accompanying the 1990s waivers granted by the federal government to California and the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWOA) on families entering welfare (accessions). A time series model was specified for analyzing the number of families entering welfare from January 1983 to December 1998. The findings suggest that in 1998 under PRWOA, all else constant, there were fewer case openings. Prior to the PRWOA, policy shifts of the 1990s did not have an impact on case openings. The findings also show that under economic recovery fewer families applied for welfare. The implications of these findings are that drastic measures such as time-limited welfare should be re-examined since a favorable economic environment allows many recipients to remain off public assistance even in the absence of such measures

The Impact of the Economy and Welfare Policy on Welfare Accessions: Implications for Future Reforms

This longitudinal study analyzes the impact of labor market conditions and welfare policies accompanying the 1990s waivers granted by the federal government to California and the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWOA) on families entering welfare (accessions). A time series model was specified for analyzing the number of families entering welfare from January 1983 to December 1998. The findings suggest that in 1998 under PRWOA, all else constant, there were fewer case openings. Prior to the PRWOA, policy shifts of the 1990s did not have an impact on case openings. The findings also show that under economic recovery fewer families applied for welfare. The implications of these findings are that drastic measures such as time-limited welfare should be re-examined since a favorable economic environment allows many recipients to remain off public assistance even in the absence of such measures

Hybridation naturelle entre les anguilles américaines et européennes : ampleur, répartition et stades de vie

Les conséquences de l’hybridation dans les processus évolutifs demeurent, en grande partie, inexplorées chez les animaux. Sachant qu’il y a hybridation entre les anguilles américaines (Anguilla rostrata) et européennes (A. anguilla), l’objectif de cette étude était de documenter la dynamique de l'hybridation afin de mieux comprendre son importance évolutive pour les deux espèces. Les génotypes AFLP de 1127 anguilles furent utilisés afin d’identifier les individus hybrides et évaluer la dynamique de l’hybridation. Les résultats démontrent que i) une proportion importante (15.5%) des anguilles islandaises sont hybrides, ii) les hybrides de première génération sont fertiles et se reproduisent, iii) en Islande, la proportion d’hybride est plus importante dans le stade de vie anguille jaune et iv) la distribution des hybrides est quasi-exclusive à l’Islande où leur proportion augmente avec la latitude. Ainsi, les résultats démontrent que l'hybridation peut influencer les processus évolutifs chez les animaux et qu’elle devrait être considérée plus formellement.Since only few studies have evaluated fitness beyond the first hybrid generation, the evolutionary processes as well as the potential outcome of natural hybridization remain largely unexplored in animals. Knowing that hybridization occurs between American and European eels (Anguilla rostrata and A. anguilla), this study aimed at documenting the dynamics of natural hybridization in order to better understand its potential evolutionary impact for the two species. AFLP genotypes of 1127 eels were used to identify hybrid individuals and evaluate dynamics of hybridization. Results provide evidence for i) an overall hybrid proportion of 15.5% in Iceland, ii) the occurrence of viable later generation hybrids, iii) a higher proportion of hybrids in the yellow eel samples, and iv) quasiexclusive distribution of hybrids in Iceland where they tend to increase in proportion with latitude. This study thus demonstrates that natural hybridization can have an influence on evolutionary processes in animals and should be considered more formally

Non-Verbal Language Contributing to Stigma towards Involuntary Childless Women in the Gikùyù Community, Kenya

Putting women in a position where motherhood is associated with womanhood has led to stigma towards women who are involuntary childless. They are viewed as outsiders and language is used to advance the ideologies that justify their discrimination. Language has had a significant role in stigmatising and stereotyping childless people. Non-verbal communication, in addition to spoken discourses, which are frequently used in the stigma, is quite important. Nonverbal language communicates our unconscious ideas, feelings, and hidden beliefs. The context of the situation is created by the nonverbal cues. Women are subjected to extremely severe linguistic stigma through nonverbal communication. The paper's main focus was on nonverbal linguistic expressions that spread stigma towards involuntary childless women. The work was informed by Fairclough and Van Dijk's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). According to CDA, grammar, vocabulary, and semantics should not be analysed separately. Instead, their roles are more important and should not be disregarded. The study set out to evaluate and investigate the linguistic stigma that involuntary childless women experience. The study used a purposive sampling technique to pick communities in Tetu sub-county of Nyeri County. These were the villages: Ihithe, Ihῠrῠrῠ, Mῠthὶnga and Kangaita. Focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews supplemented by an audio recorder were used in the study to collect data. For the FGD, twenty involuntarily childless women participated as respondents. The study will be important in shedding light on important facts about the discourses used to spread linguistic stigma and how it is done. Most importantly, the results of the study will help the general public in understanding infertility concerns and discourage them from using discursive discourses to spread stereotypes about childless women. According to the study, just as vocal language, non-verbal language is used in the infertility discourse as a tool to stigmatitise the involuntary childless women

Spatial Analyses of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: Its Responsiveness to Labor Market Performance and Policies during the 2008 Recession

The major economic downturn of the Great Recession led many families with children to depend on cash assistance from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. In order to capture TANF caseload growth rates relative to their labor market performance, we developed a responsiveness index which revealed that many of the western and midwestern states were quite responsive to the recession. Using Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) tools, we found the presence of strong spatial clusters in unemployment rate and in TANF maximum aid. Several states in the western region were surrounded by neighboring states with higher growth in unemployment rate changes than the national average based on ‘Rook Contiguity’ weight matrix. The presence of High-High clusters of the level of TANF benefits was found in Northeastern states whereas the presence of Low-Low spatial clusters was found primarily in Southern states. The present study’s findings have confirmed the idea that spatial analyses can be useful for policy research. In the era of evidence-based policy making, the role of spatial analyses is bound to expand

Talla, pes, somatotip i composició corporal en gimnastes d’elit espanyoles (gimnàstica rítmica) des de la infantesa fins a l’edat adulta.

Introducció i objectius: L’objecte d’aquest estudi va ser caracteritzar el comportament de la talla i el pes, el somatotip i la composició corporal, al llarg de l’edat, en gimnastes d’elit espanyoles (gimnàstica rítmica), i comparar els valors esmentats amb els de la població espanyola de referència. Mètode: El disseny de l’estudi va ser retrospectiu, observacional, descriptiu i va presentar dues estratègies d’agrupació de la mostra: transversal (n = 151) i mixta-longitudinal (n = 79). Les variables analitzades van ser: talla, pes, somatotip (endomorfisme, ectomorfisme, mesomorfisme), i composició corporal (∑6 plecs, massa grassa, massa muscular, i massa lliure de greix). Resultats: En no observar diferències significatives (p > 0,05) entre la mostra transversal i la mixta-longitudinal en cap de les variables analitzades, els resultats de la primera es van considerar com a canvis relacionats amb l’edat. Conclusions: El grup de gimnastes d’elit, des dels 10 anys, presenta valors de talla superiors, i inferiors de pes, en comparació amb la població espanyola de referència. Ambdues variables mostren un perfil evolutiu paral·lel a allò que s’ha observat en altres estudis, amb sengles retards en el moment d’aparició de les puntes de creixement. Les gimnastes conformen, des de les primeres edats, un grup somatotípicament homogeni, en el qual destaca el component ectomòrfic. No s’observen increments significatius dels valors de massa grassa i massa muscular al llarg de l’edat. Des de les primeres edats, les característiques somàtiques descrites suggereixen un procés de selecció previ

Talla, peso, somatotipo y composición corporal en gimnastas de élite españolas (gimnasia rítmica) desde la infancia hasta la edad adulta.

Introducción y objetivos: El objeto del presente estudio fue caracterizar el comportamiento de la talla y el peso, el somatotipo y la composición corporal, a lo largo de la edad, en gimnastas de élite españolas (gimnasia rítmica), y comparar dichos valores con los de la población española de referencia. Método: El diseño del estudio fue retrospectivo, observacional, descriptivo y presentó dos estrategias de agrupación de la muestra: transversal (n=151) y mixta-longitudinal (n = 79). Las variables analizadas fueron: talla, peso, somatotipo (endomorfismo, ectomorfismo, mesomorfismo), y composición corporal (∑6 pliegues, masa grasa, masa muscular, y masa libre de grasa). Resultados: Al no observarse diferencias significativas (p > 0,05) entre la muestra transversal y la mixta-longitudinal en ninguna de las variables analizadas, los resultados de la primera se consideraron como cambios relacionados con la edad. Conclusiones: El grupo de gimnastas de élite, desde los 10 años, presenta valores de talla superiores, e inferiores de peso, en comparación con la población española de referencia. Ambas variables muestran un perfil evolutivo en consonancia con lo observado en otros estudios, con sendos retrasos en el momento de aparición de los picos de crecimiento. Las gimnastas conforman desde las primeras edades un grupo somatotípicamente homogéneo, en el que destaca el componente ectomórfico. No se observan incrementos significativos de los valores de masa grasa y masa muscular a lo largo de la edad. Desde las primeras edades, las características somáticas descritas sugieren un proceso de selección previo