Welfare Reform and Lone Mothers Employment in the US

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 represents a dramatic change in the US welfare state. One of its key goals was to move lone mothers, even those with young children, from welfare to work. Early evidence suggests that, in concert with a strong economy, progress has been made - welfare caseloads have fallen dramatically and the employment rates of lone mothers have increased substantially. In addition to the federal reforms, state level welfare reforms played an important role prior to 1996 and are playing an even more important role subsequent to 1996 as PRWORA gives states unprecedented flexibility in designing and implementing their welfare systems. In this paper, we examine some key state-level reforms, using evidence from selected states, to illustrate the three major types of policies used in the US to move lone mothers from welfare to work: mandating work (Michigan); making work pay (Michigan and Minnesota); and helping families with child care (Illinois). We conclude that each of these policies has a role to play in moving lone mothers from welfare to work, but that further policies are needed if the US is to also to do a better job of reducing child poverty.welfare, lone mothers, employment

Putting Poor People to Work: How the Work‐First Idea Eroded College Access for the Poor by Kathleen M. Shaw, Sara Goldrick‐Rab, Christopher Mazzeo, and Jerry A

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97252/1/j.1538-165X.2008.tb01783.x.pd

Barriers to the Employment of Welfare Recipients

Dramatic reductions in welfare caseloads since passage of the Personal Responsibility and WorkOpportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 have not allayed policy concerns about the employability of recipients remaining on the rolls. Analysis of potential barriers to employment can address whether current recipients have problems that either singly or in combination make it difficult for them to comply with the new requirements for getting and keeping jobs. In this paper, we explore the prevalence and work effects of 14 potential barriers in a new survey of a representative sample of 753 urban single-mother recipients. We report the prevalence of the barriers and how their number predicts employment rates, controlling for demographic characteristics. We also analyze which individual barriers are associated with employment and how a model inclusive of a comprehensive array of barriers improves upon a traditional human capital model of the work effects of education and work and welfare history. Single mothers who received welfare in 1997 had higher rates of personal health and mental health problems, domestic violence, and children’s health problems than do women in national samples, but they were no more likely than the general population to be drug or alcohol dependent. Only 15 percent of respondents had none of the barriers and almost two-thirds had two or more barriers. The numbers of multiple barriers were strongly and negatively associated with working, and among the individual barriers, low education, lack of access to transportation, poor health, having drug dependence or a major depressive disorder, and several experiences of workplace discrimination reduced employment. Welfare-to-work programs need to be more finely targeted with respect to exemptions and service provision, and states should consider providing longer-term and enhanced supports for those who face low prospects of leaving welfare for employment.

Getting Jobs, Keeping Jobs, and Earning a Living Wage: Can Welfare Reform Work?

Most discussions of welfare and work have focused on how demographic characteristics, schooling, training, and work experience limit welfare mothers’ employment and wages, but they have largely ignored factors such as inappropriate workplace behaviors, expectations of discrimination and harassment, depression, alcoholism, and domestic violence, all of which may affect welfare mothers and make employment difficult. In this paper we review the prevalence of these individual-level barriers and argue that they, in combination with an economy which does not pay low-skill workers well, are likely to impede employment and self-sufficiency for a large proportion of welfare mothers. At the end of the review, we summarize the current state of knowledge about barriers to the employment of welfare recipients and suggest several ways in which welfare-to-work programs might address these barriers.

The Peculiar Type Ic Supernova 1997ef: Another Hypernova

SN 1997ef has been recognized as a peculiar supernova from its light curve and spectral properties. The object was classified as a Type Ic supernova (SN Ic) because its spectra are dominated by broad absorption lines of oxygen and iron, lacking any clear signs of hydrogen or helium line features. The light curve is very different from that of previously known SNe Ic, showing a very broad peak and a slow tail. The strikingly broad line features in the spectra of SN 1997ef, which were also seen in the hypernova SN 1998bw, suggest the interesting possibility that SN 1997ef may also be a hypernova. The light curve and spectra of SN 1997ef were modeled first with a standard SN~Ic model assuming an ordinary kinetic energy of explosion $E_{\rm K} = 10^{51}$ erg. The explosion of a CO star of mass $M_{\rm CO} \approx 6 M_\odot$ gives a reasonably good fit to the light curve but clearly fails to reproduce the broad spectral features. Then, models with larger masses and energies were explored. Both the light curve and the spectra of SN 1997ef are much better reproduced by a C+O star model with $E_{\rm K} =$ 8 \e{51} erg and $M_{\rm CO} = 10 M_\odot$. Therefore, we conclude that SN 1997ef is very likely a hypernova on the basis of its kinetic energy of explosion. Finally, implications for the deviation from spherical symmetry are discussed in an effort to improve the light curve and spectral fits.Comment: "To appear in the Astrophysical Journal, Vol.534 (2000)

Neighborhood Food Infrastructure and Food Security in Metropolitan Detroit

Concern about spatial access to food retailers and its relationship to household food security has increased in recent years, placing greater importance on understanding how proximity to food retailers is related to household food consumption. Using data from the Michigan Recession and Recovery Study (MRRS), a panel survey of working‐age adults in the Detroit Metropolitan Area, this article explores whether access to the food retailers is associated with food insecurity. We use unique data about food retailers in metropolitan Detroit to develop an array of food retailer access measures that account for distance to nearest retailer, density of retailers, commute times, mode of transit, and type of retailer. Across most measures, we find that many vulnerable population groups have greater or at least comparable spatial access to food resources as less vulnerable populations groups. There is little evidence, however, that greater access to food retailers is associated with food security

The significance of fathers for inner-city African-American teen mothers

Using the accounts of family life in young women's life stories, this qualitative study examined experiences with biological fathers for a sample of inner-city African-American teen mothers and a comparable sample of young women who were not parents. Distinguishing findings emerged about the pattern of young women's residential history with fathers, activity and interactions with fathers, and feelings about fathers. These qualitative findings were discussed in terms of their implications for services, policy, and research.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44239/1/10560_2005_Article_BF01876206.pd