Peter A. Neenan

Child day care and the employment of AFDC recipients with preschool children

In the context of recent federal initiatives to increase the affordability, accessibility, and quality of child care for the working poor, this article examines the degree to which expanding the supply of publicly subsidized child care in local communities may promote, through employment, the independence from welfare and economic self-sufficiency of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients with preschool-aged children. In a telephone survey of a random sample of 232 AFDC recipients who participated in a larger federally sponsored demonstration project in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, many respondents reported the lack of available child care as a barrier either to employment or to the attainment of a preferred job. Although it is concluded that increases in the availability of subsidized child care should be a component of any strategy to increase the level of employment participation, continuity, and success for this population, the results underscore the need for a multi-faceted intervention strategy to reduce the welfare dependency and to increase the economic self-sufficiency of these parents. Implications for further research are suggested.

Does Subsidized Child-Care Availability Promote Welfare Independence of Mothers on AFDC An Experimental Analysis

This article examines the degree to which the expanded availability of publicly subsidized child care in local communities may promote, through employment, the welfare independence of recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with preschool-aged children. An experimental group of 300 AFDC recipients with preschool children were offered, by mail, relatively immediate, guaranteed, subsidized child care for all their children under 12 should the casehead secure full-time, unsubsidized employment. A control group of 302 was not made such an offer; members of this group were subject to the normal conditions for obtaining sub sidized, employment-contingent child care. Both aggregate AFDC, Medicaid, and Food Stamp Program expenditures and AFDC participation were subsequently tracked for all participants over a 12-month time frame. The results suggested that the special child care offer had no statistically significant effects either an reducing aggregate welfare expenditures or in promoting client independencefrom the welfare system. Implications for practice andfurther research are suggested.

Multimethod Assessment of a Child-Care Demonstration Project for Afdc Recipient Families The Genesis of an Evaluation

This article describes the development of a multifaceted evaluative strategy designed to assess the effects of the offer of guaranteed subsidized child care on the subsequent attainment of welfare independence and aggregate welfare expenditures for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients with preschool-age children. The rationale for the evaluation approach ultimately adopted proceeds from the recognition that multimethod, triangulated research designs have the potential to be methodologically superior to single-method approaches. This description of the evaluation design, including a discussion of the presenting issue and the evaluation context, is intended as a catalyst to social scientists to develop more complex and multifaceted evaluation designs in social service research.

Sex-Role Orientations among Married Men in the Military: The Generational Factor

Drawing upon a probability sample of 928 US Air Force married men from 24 bases worldwide, the present study examined the extent to which variation in sex-role orientation is age-related. Parallel to findings in the civilian community, younger men in the military, as compared to their more senior peers, reported more egalitarian attitudes toward the roles of men and women in marriage and society.

Child Care as an Economic Incentive for the Working Poor

New federal funds from the Child Care and Dependent Block Grant Act of 1990 provide resources for states to increase the supply of subsidized child care for the working poor. Based on data from the largest urban county in North Carolina, the authors examine the potential economic implications of expanded child-care assistance for a group of parents for whom this support may be effective as an employment incentive and support: low-income parents with preschool children who have a definite offer of a job or are already employed and who are on the waiting list for state-subsidized child-care support. The results are generally supportive of the importance and potential cost-effectiveness of expanded subsidized child-care assistance as an employment incentive and support to this group of parents. Many of these parents may require additional supports to improve their employment prospects and to promote their employment stability.