Suchergebnisse

It is argued that low-income households are concerned with accumulating financial assets & that the lack of assets significantly hinders the economic growth of such households. Qualitative in-depth interviews with low-income single mothers (N = 198) & noncustodial fathers (N = 180) were conducted to determine low-income households' access to both tangible & intangible assets. Several findings regarding the participants' access to money savings, stocks, & bonds, real estate, machinery & equipment used to sustain self-employment, durable household goods, credit, human capital, & informal social capital are shared. It is concluded that both tangible & intangible assets are required for low-income households to achieve financial growth. Several policy recommendations are also offered, eg, permit individuals who receive welfare to establish savings through individual development accounts so that they can purchase needed goods & accumulate assets. 17 References. J. W. Parker

It is argued that low-income households are concerned with accumulating financial assets & that the lack of assets significantly hinders the economic growth of such households. Qualitative in-depth interviews with low-income single mothers (N = 198) & noncustodial fathers (N = 180) were conducted to determine low-income households' access to both tangible & intangible assets. Several findings regarding the participants' access to money savings, stocks, & bonds, real estate, machinery & equipment used to sustain self-employment, durable household goods, credit, human capital, & informal social capital are shared. It is concluded that both tangible & intangible assets are required for low-income households to achieve financial growth. Several policy recommendations are also offered, eg, permit individuals who receive welfare to establish savings through individual development accounts so that they can purchase needed goods & accumulate assets. 17 References. J. W. Parker

In Chicago, 60 independent observers were hired to assess how well Census Bureau enumerators implemented procedures for the homeless count (S-Night) in one district office area (DOA). Within this DOA, they observed 29 of the 87 predesignated nighttime street enumeration sites. Observers saw enumerators in only one third of these sites. Those observers who saw enumerators reported that enumerators failed to follow procedure. As a result, observer estimates of the number of homeless persons at their site were substantially higher than enumerator estimates. Qualitative interviews with 18 homeless persons on the day following the count revealed that only five of 18 believed they had been counted

"Welfare mothers are popularly viewed as passively dependent on their checks and averse to work. Reformers across the political spectrum advocate moving these women off the welfare rolls and into the labor force as the solution to their problems. Making Ends Meet offers dramatic evidence toward a different conclusion: In the present labor market, unskilled single mothers who hold jobs are frequently worse off than those on welfare, and neither welfare nor low-wage employment alone will support a family at subsistence levels." "Kathryn Edin and Laura Lein interviewed nearly four hundred welfare and low-income single mothers from cities in four states over a six-year period. They learned the reality of these mothers' struggles to provide for their families: where their money comes from, what they spend it on, how they cope with their children's needs and what hardships they suffer." "Making Ends Meet is a realistic look at a world that many would change yet few understand. If this country's efforts to improve the self-sufficiency of female-headed families are to succeed, reformers must move beyond the myths of welfare dependency and deal with the hard realities of an unrewarding American labor market, the lack of affordable health insurance and child care for single mothers who work, and the true cost of subsistence living."--Jacket

"Welfare mothers are popularly viewed as passively dependent on their checks and averse to work. Reformers across the political spectrum advocate moving these women off the welfare rolls and into the labor force as the solution to their problems. Making Ends Meet offers dramatic evidence toward a different conclusion: In the present labor market, unskilled single mothers who hold jobs are frequently worse off than those on welfare, and neither welfare nor low-wage employment alone will support a family at subsistence levels." "Kathryn Edin and Laura Lein interviewed nearly four hundred welfare and low-income single mothers from cities in four states over a six-year period. They learned the reality of these mothers' struggles to provide for their families: where their money comes from, what they spend it on, how they cope with their children's needs and what hardships they suffer." "Making Ends Meet is a realistic look at a world that many would change yet few understand. If this country's efforts to improve the self-sufficiency of female-headed families are to succeed, reformers must move beyond the myths of welfare dependency and deal with the hard realities of an unrewarding American labor market, the lack of affordable health insurance and child care for single mothers who work, and the true cost of subsistence living."--Jacket

The remarkable transformation of the American social safety net that began in the early 1990s has led to seismic shifts in who benefits and how. More than two decades later, how should these changes be judged? Expanding and updating prior influential reviews, we evaluate how the transformation of the safety net—broadly defined—has shaped economic and family dynamics within low-income households. Collectively, social safety net policies have expanded support for working poor parents quite dramatically, while the cash safety net for the nonworking poor has all but collapsed. Working poor families have come out ahead economically, with mounting evidence of positive long-term benefits for child health and development. At the same time, a substantial number of poor families have fallen through the cracks, disconnected from stable, adequate wage income and cash aid. A growing number report income so low that it can be tracked with indicators used to measure poverty in the developing world. Meanwhile, contrary to reformers' predictions, these changes have had little effect on marriage or unwed births. We call for a reinvigorated focus on the continued evolution of the social safety net and discuss ways in which a sociological perspective can enhance such work.

Recent improvements in data collection offer unprecedented insight into the romantic partnerships of disadvantaged men, revealing higher levels of instability, complexity, and commitment than previously understood. Young disadvantaged men are often involved in casual romantic relationships that result in pregnancy. When this occurs, most men remain involved with the mother, are optimistic about the future of their relationships, and are committed to their children. Economic disadvantage, incarceration, conflict, and mistrust undermine the stability of these relationships, however, and most end within several years after the birth. New romantic relationships begin shortly thereafter, creating complex family structures. We know less about the patterns of interaction between couples that produce unstable partnerships or about the nature of romantic relationships that do not involve children. With our growing understanding of the presence of fathers in nonmarital households, policy-makers must adapt their policies to support, rather than undermine, these fragile unions.