Welfare Reform, Work‐Family Tradeoffs, and Child Well‐Being*

Abstract

Welfare reform and related policy changes have altered the context in which welfare-reliant women make choices about employment and family care. Using data from longitudinal qualitative interviews, we examined women's experiences of workfamily tradeoffs and how they think their employment affected their children. Women identified multiple co-occurring costs and benefits of work for themselves and their children. Benefits included: increased income; increased self-esteem, feelings of independence, and social integration; and the ability to model work and self-sufficiency values for children. Costs included: working without increased income; overload, exhaustion, and stress; and less time and energy to be with, supervise, and support children. The relevance of these findings for family policy specialists and practitioners who work with low-income families is discussed.

Enhancing Breastfeeding Rates Among African American Women: A Systematic Review of Current Psychosocial Interventions

“…124 Targeting employmentbased factors is particularly important because African American mothers experience shorter maternity leave time on average 21 and commonly return to inflexible work environments after giving birth, 125 and most importantly because return to work postpartum may serve as one of the sources of stress and role overload. 126,127 Providing psychological and social support. Third, although individual systems-level factors such as major psychosocial risks including stress, mental health problems, or chronic medical illness were all identified in the literature as critical risk factors for breastfeeding, 128,129 we were unable to find interventions or strategies that uniquely target these risk factors or incorporate them as part of a comprehensive solution.…”

Thanks for nothing: Income and labor force participation for never-married mothers since 1982

“…For women coming off welfare, employment may have noteworthy non-monetary benefits. Work can benefit women's self-esteem while instilling desirable values in children (London et al 2004), although women moving from welfare to work may spend less time with their children (Edin and Lein 1997). These are noteworthy concerns for a population facing such profound disadvantage.…”

Child Care Changes, Home Environment Quality, and the Social Competence of African American Children at Age 3

“…However, programs such as Head Start are unavailable in some locations and are unable to cover all eligible children (Clements, Reynolds, & Hickey, 2004), and public prekindergarten generally only covers the year prior to kindergarten. For very young children, parents-particularly low-income parents-may have to piece together several child care arrangements in order to meet their child care needs (London, Scott, Edin, & Hunter, 2004).…”