Sandra K. Danziger

Absent Does Not Equal Uninvolved: Predictors of Fathering in Teen Mother Families.

This study examines the effects of several predictors of father involvement in a large sample of single-parent, teen mother families. Ethological and role theories led to hypotheses of negative effects of the childs age and grandfathers presence and positive effects of the young man s employment experience on his parenting. The data were from telephone surveys with adolescent female welfare recipients. Among the findings are that the work behavior of absent fathers had a significant direct effect on participation in childrearing and that minority mothers reported higher rates of paternal involvement.

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.

Barriers to Employment and the ‘Hard to Serve’: Implications for Services, Sanctions, and Time Limits

Falling welfare rolls in the US has focussed attention on those remaining on the caseload, variously termed the ‘hard to serve’ or ‘difficult to employ’. Using data from the first three years of the Womens Employment Study, a sample of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) recipients drawn in an urban county in Michigan, this article examines the barriers that inhibit people moving off welfare. The analysis indicates that the kinds of skill deficits and other personal problems experienced by welfare recipients are not frequently and systematically addressed within the rapid-employment, welfare to work models widely implemented across the USA.

Long term employment of African-American and white welfare recipients and the role of persistent health and mental health problems.

ABSTRACT We use a panel study of Michigan current and former welfare recipients to estimate the prevalence and persistence of health problems in the post-reform welfare population and their role in womens employment. Rates of health problems were disproportionately high. Over 70 percent of current and former welfare recipients reported limitations in physical functioning; over 60 percent met the criteria for a mental health disorder measured in the study; and 37 percent reported having a child with a health problem in at least one of four interviews over a 4 1/2-year period. Women who reported physical health, mental health, or child health problems at multiple waves worked fewer months. There were no race-based differences in employment length or in physical health problems, but African-Americans were less likely than whites to meet the diagnostic screening criteria for depression, to meet criteria for general anxiety disorder, and to report a child with a health problem. These findings suggest that the inclusion of persistent health problems as determinants of work in human capital models increases understanding of the transition from welfare to work. Policies need to reexamine welfares work requirements to encourage states to provide services and supports to recipients.

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

DOCUMENT RESUME

Family life and teenage pregnancy in the inner-city: Experiences of African-American youth

Abstract This paper analyzes in-depth interviews to compare the relative plausibility of family processes versus schooling opportunities as factors associated with sex and motherhood in poor communities. The data are from life history interviews with 80 African-American women aged 15–20, conducted between 1987–1990. Perceptions of family life were coded into three dimensions of emotional relationships, presence of rules in the home, and extent of stressful events. Early schooling descriptions were coded in two dimensions of personal experiences of and familial encouragement of the student role. The impact of family life and early schooling for both age of first sex and school-age motherhood is examined. The young women who delayed onset of sexual activity, and who stayed in school even as a teen mother, had more positive perceptions of being students and of receiving family encouragement and supervision. Policies and programs that target early home-school linkages, increase familial social supports, and improve access to reproductive health care would, according to these young women, reduce teen pregnancy in the inner-city.

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.

The Health of Poor Women Under Welfare Reform

OBJECTIVES We compared the health of single mothers affected by welfare reform with the health of a nationally representative sample of women to document the prevalence of poor health as single mothers experience the effects of welfare reform. METHODS We compared risk factors and measures of health among women randomly sampled from the welfare rolls with similar data from a nationally representative sample of women. RESULTS Women in our welfare recipient sample had higher rates of elevated glycosylated hemoglobin (> or = 6%; prevalence ratio [PR]=4.87; 95% confidence interval [CI]=2.69, 7.04), hypertension (systole > or = 140 or diastole > or = 90; PR=2.36; 95% CI = 1.47, 3.24), high body mass index ( > or = 30; PR = 1.78; 95% CI = 1.49, 2.08), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (< or = 35 mg/dL; PR=1.91; 95% CI=1.17, 2.65); lower peak expiratory flow; and less physical functioning. Current smoking rates were higher (PR = 1.85; 95% CI = 1.50, 2.19) and smoking cessation rates were lower (PR=0.62; 95% CI=0.37, 0.86) than in the national sample. CONCLUSIONS Current and former welfare recipients bear a substantial burden of illness. Further studies are necessary to interpret our findings of worsened health in the wake of welfare reform.

Post-Welfare Employment and Psychological Well-Being

SUMMARY Current public assistance policies are removing many recipients from the welfare rolls, regardless of their income level. This article examines the post-assistance well-being of a stratified probability sample of 426 “able-bodied” women and men who lost cash benefits when Michigan terminated its General Assistance program in 1991. The relationship of demographic, human capital, and psychological resource variables to employment status, depressive symptomatology and life satisfaction is examined utilizing two panels of survey data, collected approximately one and two years after the program ended. Findings demonstrate that personal mastery is related to employment status and risk of depression, and sense of burden is linked to both psychological outcomes, controlling for relevant demographic and human capital variables. Gender is related to risk of depression; however, its relation to employment is dependent on the presence of children in the household. Steady employment is positively associated with psychological well-being. Overall, the findings suggest that the majority of former recipients faced employment difficulties and psychological hardship, and that services should be targeted to subgroups of former recipients with particular risk factors.

The uses of expertise in doctor-patient encounters during pregnancy

Abstract A model of information sharing between doctors and patients is developed and illustrated with ethnographic data on prenatal care. Viewed processually, doctor-patient interaction is analyzed as a negotiation between participants of different social status that results in an exchange of medical information or expertise. The outcome varies in its quantity and quality, depending upon: (1) the expressed positions of doctor and patient on the uses of expertise; and (2) the degree of compatibility between these two positions. This model of doctor-patient relationships differs from others in the literature by focusing specifically on the dynamic interaction process and on the status asymmetry between medical experts and lay persons. While the model is largely grounded in empirical data on prenatal encounters for the purposes of this paper, some of its broader implications and research applications are suggested.