Ariel Kalil

Early-childhood poverty and adult attainment, behavior, and health.

This article assesses the consequences of poverty between a childs prenatal year and 5th birthday for several adult achievement, health, and behavior outcomes, measured as late as age 37. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1,589) and controlling for economic conditions in middle childhood and adolescence, as well as demographic conditions at the time of the birth, findings indicate statistically significant and, in some cases, quantitatively large detrimental effects of early poverty on a number of attainment-related outcomes (adult earnings and work hours). Early-childhood poverty was not associated with such behavioral measures as out-of-wedlock childbearing and arrests. Most of the adult earnings effects appear to operate through early povertys association with adult work hours.

Good Things Come in Threes: Single-Parent Multigenerational Family Structure and Adolescent Adjustment

Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS), we found that teenagers who live in nonmarried families are less likely to graduate from high school or to attend college, more likely to smoke or drink, and more likely to initiate sexual activity. Not all nonmarried families are alike, however. In particular, teenagers living with their single mothers and with at least one grandparent in multigenerational households have developmental outcomes that are at least as good and often better than the outcomes of teenagers in married families. These findings obtain when a wide array of economic resources, parenting behavior, and home and school characteristics are controlled for.

Human Capital, Physical Health, and Mental Health of Welfare Recipients: Co‐occurrence and Correlates

Drawing on a large random sample of welfare recipients in the post–welfare reform era, this article examines the prevalence of mental health disorders, substance dependence, and physical health or disability, their co-occurrence with human capital problems, and their relation to employment. Half of the participants have none of these potential barriers to employment. Mental health and human capital problems, when present, tend to occur in isolation about half the time. Women with co-occurring human-capital, mental-health, and physical-health problems have the poorest work outcomes. The findings suggest the need to design and implement more assessment, referrals, and service provision to support women in meeting the challenges in the transition from welfare to work.

Sanctions and Material Hardship under TANF

Relatively little is known about families who have been sanctioned since the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. We use panel data from the Womens Employment Survey to examine the predictors of sanctioning and consequences for material hardship among a sample of welfare recipients under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Approximately 12 percent reported being sanctioned by fall 1998. Statistically significant predictors include being African American and lacking a high school education. Controlling for a wide range of personal and demographic characteristics, we find that sanctions predict utility shutoffs, engaging in hardship‐mediating activities, and subjective perceptions of economic hardship.

Effects of Grandmother Coresidence and Quality of Family Relationships on Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Mothers.

New welfare policies mandate minor unmarried adolescent mothers to coreside with a parent or adult guardian to qualify for cash assistance. The influence of grandmother coresidence and the quality of familial relationships on adolescent mothers psychological well-being is little understood. This article considers the main and interactive effects of grandmother coresidence family cohesion and young mother conflict with grandmother on adolescent reports of depressive symptoms in a sample (N = 194) of predominantly low-income adolescent mothers. Young mothers ranged in age from 15 to 17 years during pregnancy. Predictor variables associations with depressive symptoms were examined at 6 18 and 30 months post-partum. No main effects of grandmother coresidence on adolescents depressive symptoms were found. In contrast the quality of family relationships as well as the interaction of grandmother coresidence with family cohesion were associated with depressive symptoms. Adolescent mothers with the greatest depressive symptoms were those who coresided with grandmothers under conditions of poor family cohesion. Implications for new welfare policies are discussed. (authors)

Teenage Childbearing, Marital Status, and Depressive Symptoms in Later Life.

This study examined the role of prechildbearing characteristics in later-life depressive symptomatology among 990 married and unmarried teenage childbearers. Data from teenagers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) were used to test the relative contribution of age and marital status at first birth to depressive symptomatology measured during young adulthood (ages 27-29). Unmarried teenage childbearers displayed higher levels of depressive symptoms in young adulthood than did women who first give birth as married adults. However, the psychological health of married teenage mothers in later life was as good as that of married adult mothers, whereas unmarried adult mothers and unmarried teenage mothers had similarly poor outcomes. The findings of this study suggest that marital status, rather than age at first birth, may be more relevant for later-life psychological health.

Maternal Work Behavior under Welfare Reform: How does the Transition from Welfare to Work Affect Child Development?

DOCUMENT RESUME

Correlates of Employment Among Welfare Recipients: Do Psychological Characteristics and Attitudes Matter?

This study examines whether and how a wide range of potential barriers to work,including psychological characteristics and attitudes, are associated with current employment in a recent sample of welfare recipients in Michigan (N = 672). Psychological factors include measures of depressive symptoms, work attitudes, and perceived risks associated with leaving welfare. Over and above demographic, economic, and contextual factors, positive psychological characteristics and attitudes were found to be moderately associated with currently being employed. Implications for welfare-to-work programs and policy are discussed.

Early childhood poverty, immune-mediated disease processes, and adult productivity

This study seeks to understand whether poverty very early in life is associated with early-onset adult conditions related to immune-mediated chronic diseases. It also tests the role that these immune-mediated chronic diseases may play in accounting for the associations between early poverty and adult productivity. Data (n = 1,070) come from the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics and include economic conditions in utero and throughout childhood and adolescence coupled with adult (age 30–41 y) self-reports of health and economic productivity. Results show that low income, particularly in very early childhood (between the prenatal and second year of life), is associated with increases in early-adult hypertension, arthritis, and limitations on activities of daily living. Moreover, these relationships and particularly arthritis partially account for the associations between early childhood poverty and adult productivity as measured by adult work hours and earnings. The results suggest that the associations between early childhood poverty and these adult disease states may be immune-mediated.

How teen mothers are faring under welfare reform

We examine socioeconomic and psychological well-being among 88 low-income minor mothers. Half of the young mothers receive cash welfare assistance and face new policy mandates regarding coresidence status and school attendance. Although most appear to be “complying” with the requirements of the new welfare rules and are satisfied with their current living arrangements, many are faring poorly on dimensions of psychological well-being and life stress. Receipt of cash welfare is not a significant correlate of school success, parenting stress, or economic strain. Teen coresidence with their mothers does not appear to buffer against the experience of child care problems, depressive symptoms, or domestic violence. We discuss the implications of the results forresearch, policy, and services for teen parent families.