Book Description

The study explored a model that integrates human capital, family resource, employment and psychosocial factors to explain variation in economic self-sufficiency (ESS) among single mothers. A sample of 851 single mothers on Aid to Families with Dependent Children was selected from the Washington State Family Income Study data base. Data from a three-year period (6/88-5/91) were utilized to describe and analyze single mothers in transition from welfare. When compared to a sample of non-poor single mothers, mothers on public assistance differed significantly in several ways: They were younger, had more children and were more likely to have parents who received public assistance. Educational levels were significantly lower, as was employment activity. Economic self-sufficiency was measured as the ratio of welfare benefits to household income. Degree of ESS improved over the three-year period: While 60 percent of single mothers relied on welfare for more than half their income in the first year, only 45 percent did by the third year. In analyzing differences in degrees of economic self-sufficiency among single mothers, the following groups of mothers had significantly higher degrees of welfare reliance: never-married and divorced mothers; mothers with a child under age two; mothers with three or more children; non-white mothers; and mothers living in public housing. A path analysis was conducted to determine the relative influence of human capital, family resource, employment and psychosocial factors on later economic self-sufficiency. Number of children and receipt of subsidies positively affected welfare reliance. Education, number of adults in the household and number of months employed negatively affected degree of welfare reliance. A key finding was that, after controlling for differences in human capital, family resources and employment activity, workplace support retained a highly significant, inverse relationship with degree of welfare reliance. Sense of personal control and social support had both direct and indirect effects on degree of welfare reliance, establishing that psychosocial factors mediate impacts of human capital, family and employment factors on economic self-sufficiency. The results support the viability of utilizing stress models to examine objective economic outcomes in future research.