Mothers' Work and Children's Lives

Low-Income Families after Welfare Reform

Rucker C. Johnson, Ariel Kalil, and Rachel E. Dunifon

Publication Year: 2010

Johnson, Kalil, and Dunifon focus on this tenuous work-family balance, or lack thereof, and its effects on children. What they discover is that work per se is not detrimental for single-mother families. In fact, it brings stability, routine, and a sense of pride to working women and their families. However, they also find that the nature of the work— the type of work, number of hours worked, and the flexibility of the job—is a key factor in maintaining an acceptable balance and in promoting positive outcomes for their children.

Published by: W.E. Upjohn Institute

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In December 1994, as the welfare reform bill was working its way through Congress, Jason DeParle, author of American Dream (2004) and longtime New York Times poverty reporter, wrote an article for the New York Times Sunday Magazine...

2 - The Women's Employment Study-Context and Content

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pp. 19-50

Welfare and other policies targeted to low-income families were changing fundamentally both nationally and in Michigan as our study got under way. We describe some of the most important changes here before describing our study in detail...

3 - The Effect of Low-Income Mothers' Employment on Children

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pp. 51-86

Before presenting the results of our analysis, we first examine the simple two-way relationships between maternal employment patterns and the child behavior outcomes in which we are interested. Table 3.1 presents simple descriptive statistics for each of our child behavioral...

4 - Conclusions and Policy Implications

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pp. 87-106

Mary Jo Bane, who resigned from the Clinton administration in response to welfare reform, said in an American Prospect article in 1997, “Sadly, there are almost no data to indicate what happens to these families and their children when they are no longer receiving welfare,,,

Appendix A - Measures

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pp. 107-122

Appendix B - Empirical Methods

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pp. 123-128

References

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pp. 129-138

The Authors

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pp. 139-

Index

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pp. 141-146

About the Institute

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pp. 147-

E-ISBN-13: 9780880994361
E-ISBN-10: 0880994363
Print-ISBN-13: 9780880993562
Print-ISBN-10: 0880993561

Page Count: 157
Publication Year: 2010

Edition: First

Mothers' Work and Children's Lives

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

Contents

Acknowledgments

1 - The Road to Welfare Reform

2 - The Women's Employment Study-Context and Content

3 - The Effect of Low-Income Mothers' Employment on Children