Assets Effects on Women: A Study of Urban Households in Nepal

This paper examines the effects of private property ownership on women based on a case study in Kathmandu, Nepal. The results show that a higher proportion of women property owners were better educated, had bank accounts and made household financial decisions, had voted in the most recent elections and were satisfied with their lives compared to women without any property. However, these two groups of women were not statistically different in their employment experience, use of contraceptives, and in their experience of domestic conflict

Deforestation and Rural Poverty in Developing Countries: The Role of Social Work

To alleviate rural poverty most developing countries have been launching a wide variety of rural development activities. In this paper I discuss the relationship between deforestation and rural poverty, policies governing reforestation initiatives and the role of social workers in these efforts. The paper argues for and illustrates the various roles social workers can play in development programs to alleviate rural poverty in developing countries

Economic Well-being of Single Mothers: Work First or Postsecondary Education?

This article investigates the relationship between single mothers\u27 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

Suppressor Variables in Social Work Research: Ways to Identify in Multiple Regression Models

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.jstor.org/.Suppressor variables may be more common in social work research than what is currently recognized. We review different types of suppressor variables and illustrate systematic ways to identify them in multiple regression using four statistics: R2, sum of squares, regression weight, and comparing zero-order correlations with respective semipartial correlations

Individual, Family and Neighborhood Influences on Teen Childbearing: A Life Options Approach

This paper presents results from an examination of the effects of neighborhood and family characteristics—as they are related to an individual’s life options—on the teenage fertility of urban respondents. The study drew upon the life options perspective, a loosely defined theoretical framework which posits that opportunities for social and economic mobility impact an adolescent’s expectations for the future and behavior. The data come from the University of Chicago’s Urban Poverty and Family Life Survey of Chicago. Collected in 1987 under the supervision of William Julius Wilson, the data are derived from 2,490 personal and telephone interviews conducted with a multistage, stratified probability sample of Chicago residents aged 18 to 44 years. Respondents resided in census tracts with 1980 poverty rates of at least 20 percent. These results provide some support for the use of a life options approach to understand teenage childbearing

Promise of Welfare Reform: Development Through Devolution on Indian Reservations

In the 1990s, devolution of authority from federal to states and local governmental institutions in the administration of social welfare policies, programs, and services is seen as an answer to alleviating poverty among low-income families with children. To this effect, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 has granted an option to tribal governments to administer their own Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) services. In this article we provide findings from early experience of tribes within Arizona in their attempt to self-administer TANF services. We collected and analyzed data from multiple sources, including a review of documents provided by the state and tribal members, in-depth telephone interviews with service providers on 15 of the 21 reservations, and site visits to four reservations at which we conducted group interviews with state and tribal social service providers. We found that under the 1996 welfare legislation, tribal governments have greater authority and flexibility to self-administer welfare policies on their reservations, but they are lacking adequate financial and technical resources to exercise these responsibilities effectively. One unintended positive outcome of this legislation is that communication, coordination, and collaboration among tribes, between tribes and states and tribes and the federal government has increased

The Higher Education Option for Poor Women with Children

Postsecondary education is the key to exiting from poverty permanently. Yet, the PRWORA allows women only up to 12 months of vocational training while on welfare. This paper focuses on bringing back the importance of investing in the education of poor women, particularly the postsecondary education of poor women with children, to the forefront of the welfare debate. In this paper we review federal and state level welfare policies toward postsecondary education of poor women with children. Some states are interpreting federal welfare policy strictly and allowing only up to 12 months of vocational training while on welfare. Other states allow poor women attending postsecondary education to count class hours and homework hours toward the work participation requirement. Support services-childcarea nd transportation-tow omen attending college vary from state to state. Services for welfare mothers who wish to go on to college are severely inadequate. We argue that federal and state policies should be designed to encourage poor women to complete two- and fouryear college degrees because education of women is associated with better economic and social returns for women, children, families and society at large. We propose that welfare policies should encourage women\u27s college education by providing support services and by stopping the five-years clock for those attending college. In addition, programs such as Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) and AmeriCorps should be expanded to increase postsecondary education opportunities for poor women

State of Welfare Families on Reservations: Progress, Setbacks, and Issues for Reauthorization (Working Paper 3)

State of Welfare Families on Reservations: Progress, Setbacks, and Issues for Reauthorization (Working Paper 3

Implementation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) on American Indian Reservations: Early Evidence from Arizona

This study is aimed at monitoring the impact of the 1996 federal welfare legislation on American Indian families with children on reservations within the state of Arizona over five years (1997-2002). Our goal is to inform the public policy debate on how to improve the social and economic opportunities for low-income families with children on reservations. This report is based on our first year (October 1, 1997-September 30,1998) of work, which focused on aspects of reform implementation and short-term and potential long-term outcomes. We analyzed secondary data from administrative sources relevant to the implementation of welfare legislation in Indian communities. In addition, we collected and analyzed primary (qualitative) data regarding welfare reform options implemented on reservations and their potential impacts. Primary data were collected from in-depth telephone interviews with service providers of 15 of the 21 reservations in Arizona. This information was substantiated by two site visits to three reservations where we conducted focus groups with current and former welfare recipients and state and tribal social service providers