This chapter draws upon 14 years of related ethnographic studies to uncover the principal features that characterize family life among the poor. Experiences dealing with multiple agencies are discussed, as well as experiences dealing with health problems in the context of the U.S. medical care system, and the aftermaths of household emergencies. 34 references.
This chapter synthesizes the results of both quantitative experimental and qualitative research about how low-income children fare as their mothers spend more time in the labor market and attempt to strike a new balance between work and parenting. Findings indicate policies that effectively increase parental income as they increase employment improve the well-being of young children and are the most promising for helping families cope. Numerous references.
A study used qualitative methods to explore the specific mechanisms and processes through which poverty and welfare changes affected 186 low-income families with young children. Particular attention was paid to the relative influences of factors related to welfare reform, family financial resources, and characteristics associated with parent, child, and family functioning. Case studies are offered. 26 references.
This final chapter reviews major findings from qualitative studies of low-income families facing a new policy environment that calls for women to work outside the home in addition to managing the second shift of work inside the home. Findings indicate women continue to put their children’s needs above paid employment, few women experience real economic gains by increased work participation, and children’s well-being appears to be buffered and advanced by women’s well-being, social support, and parenting quality. 39 references.
We begin with an overview of men’s participation in the workforce and their distribution across occupations. We briefly review vocational theories, and the limited research on men within those theoretical perspectives. We then review the research in men’s nontraditional careers, including studies that have investigated men who choose to be stay-at-home fathers. We also review the literature on men’s work–family interface, including their work–family and family–work conflicts. Finally, we discuss the research on men and career counseling. The latter is often a non-threatening entry for men…
This book explores how dramatic changes in family welfare policies over the past decade have impacted the work, child care practices, and relationships of low-income mothers and fathers. Drawing upon several local, State, and national qualitative studies, the book explores how women and men are reading the policy signals, rules, and incentives as they attempt to raise their children and earn sufficient income to hold their families together. The text is divided into three themes centered around women’s roles as workers and mothers, policy effects on children, and the evolving role of fathers…
This chapter summarizes economic theory and evidence regarding the impact of welfare, child support enforcement, and labor markets on the lack of father involvement in circumstances such as divorce, legal separation, or nonmarital births. The discussion reviews trends in family structure and explains how public policy can enhance child well-being by promoting family structures that facilitate father involvement in children's lives. All economic theories about family structure are based on the assumption that individuals make the decision to marry or divorce by weighing the benefits of each…
