Title: Single mothers and their children: a new American dilemma.

POPLINE Document Number: 200985

Author(s):

Garfinkel I
McLanahan SS

Source citation:

Washington, D.C., Urban Institute Press, 1986. xix, 198 p. (Changing Domestic Priorities Series.)

Abstract:

During the past 25 years the proportion of children living in families headed by women has more than doubled from 1 in 10 to 1 in 5. Concern about this trend stems from the fact that these families are much more likely to be poor or to experience sharp drops in income than other families and from a belief (and some evidence) that the children of single parents are less likely to be successful as adults than those who grow up in 2-parent homes. The tradition of providing public assistance to women with children is now being called into question. Although such assistance improves their economic position and enables them to stay home with their children, it also fosters long-term welfare dependence and may encourage or marital instability or out-of-wedlock births. This tension between the desire to provide economic security to such families and the need to stem their growth and dependence on government is the new American dilemma. Has welfare, in fact, caused an increase in the number of single-mother families? Has welfare dependence grown to the point that it morally corrosive to the recipients and fiscally unacceptable to the public? Do other solutions, such as encouraging mothers to work, make sense in light of what is known about their effects on children? The authors conclude that the welfare system has been a minor cause of the growing number of single-mother families, that the majority of mothers on welfare remain dependent on government assistance for a long time, and that this dependence could have harmful effects and is, in any case, increasingly unacceptable in a society where most mothers work and self-reliance is highly valued. They also conclude that a mother's employment is unlikely to have adverse effects on her children and could actually be beneficial. In sum, although they reject the idea that the welfare system has been a major reason for the rising number of women who head families, they nevertheless prefer work over welfare as the solution to the new American dilemma. They go on to note that most women on welfare cannot command high enough wages to lift their families out of poverty even if they work full-time. Thus they believe it will be necessary to supplement the earnings of these women with both increased child support awards could greatly reduce poverty and welfare dependence. The authors end the book with a discussion of their own policy recommendations.

Keywords:

United States
North America
Unmarried Mothers
Mothers
Parents
Child
Social Welfare
Social Planning
One Parent Family
Family Characteristics
Family and Household
Recommendations
Obstacles
Social Policy
Employment Status
Low Income Population
Developed Countries
Americas
Family Relationships
Youth
Age Factors
Population Characteristics
Demographic Factors
Population
Economic Factors
Organization and Administration
Policy
Socioeconomic Status
Socioeconomic Factors
Social Class