What Do Low-Income Single Mothers Say about Marriage?

2000 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Edin
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Low Income

scholarly journals Gendered Emotional Support and Women’s Well-Being in a Low-Income Urban African Setting

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 837-859
Author(s):  
Sangeetha Madhavan ◽  
Shelley Clark ◽  
Yuko Hara
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Single Women ◽  
Gender Composition ◽  
Support Network ◽  
Data Set

In most contexts, emotional support is crucial for the well-being of low-income single women and their children. Support from women may be especially important for single mothers because of precarious ties to their children’s fathers, the prevalence of extended matrifocal living arrangements, and gendered norms that place men as providers of financial rather than emotional support. However, in contexts marked by economic insecurity, spatial dispersion of families, and changing gender norms and kinship obligations, such an expectation may be problematic. Applying theories of emotional capital and family bargaining processes, we address three questions: What is the gender composition of emotional support that single mothers receive? How does gender composition change over time? Does the gender composition of emotional support affect the self-reported stress of single mothers? Drawing on data from a unique data set on 462 low-income single mothers and their kin from Nairobi, Kenya, we uncover three key findings. One, whereas the bulk of strong emotional support comes from female kin, about 20 percent of respondents report having male-dominant support networks. Two, nearly 30 percent of respondents report change favoring men in the composition of their emotional support over six months. Three, having a male-dominant emotional support network is associated with lower stress. These results challenge what is commonly taken for granted about gender norms and kinship obligations in non-Western contexts.

scholarly journals Anti-Poverty Policy for Families in the Next Century: From Welfare to Work—and Worries

2000 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
David T Ellwood
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Single Mothers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Single Parents ◽  
Work Incentives ◽  
Welfare To Work ◽  
Working Families

This paper reveals that recent changes in social policy have included both sharp cutbacks in welfare for non-working families and dramatic increases in supports for low income working families. It explores the reasons for these changes, and documents how they have radically changed work incentives for some persons, notable single mothers. The result has been a large increase in work by low wage single parents. The paper concludes by examining several potential dangers of this new direction and explores the challenges that remain for the next century.

“We Need to Stand Together”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie M. Fousekis
Keyword(s):  
Child Care ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
Single Mothers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Nursery School ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
Child Care Program ◽  
Working Families ◽  
Female Networks

This chapter focuses on two women leaders, Theresa Mahler and Mary Young, and describes how they helped the coalition navigate female networks, create alliances with men inside and outside the legislature, and finally secure a permanent public child care program, even if only for California's low-income working mothers. As legislative chair for the Northern California Association for Nursery Education (NCANE), Mahler served as the key spokeswoman for nursery school educators and child care supervisors throughout the postwar struggles to secure permanent, publicly funded child care. A soft-spoken, unassuming woman who became president and later legislative chairman of the California Parents' Association for Child Care (CPACC), Young spoke on behalf of California's low-income working families, particularly single mothers.

Psychometric Assessment of the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory in a Sample of Low-Income Single Mothers

2001 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Lutenbacher
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Single Mothers ◽  
Corporal Punishment ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Role Reversal ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Adolescent Parenting

The Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI) is a 32-item inventory widely used to identify adolescents and adults at risk for inadequate parenting behaviors. It includes four subscales representing the most frequent patterns associated with abusive parenting: (a) Inappropriate Expectations; (b) Lack of Empathy; (c) Parental Value of Corporal Punishment; and (d) Parent-Child Role Reversal. Although it has been used in a variety of samples, the psychometric properties of the AAPI have not been examined in low-income single mothers. The purposes of this study were to: (a) examine the reliability and validity of the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory (AAPI) in a sample of 206 low-income single mothers; (b) assess the mother’s risk for inadequate parenting by comparing their AAPI subscale scores with normative subscale scores on the AAPI; (c) assess the construct validity of the AAPI by testing the hypothesis that mothers with lower AAPI scores have a higher level of depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem in comparison to mothers with higher AAPI scores; and (d) determine whether the 4-factor structure proposed by Bavolek (1984) could be replicated. AAPI scores indicated these mothers were at high risk for child abuse when compared with normative data for parents with no known history of abuse. Higher risk for abusive parenting was associated with a higher level of depressive symptoms, less education, and unemployment. The subscales, Inappropriate Expectations and Parental Value of Corporal Punishment demonstrated poor internal consistency with Cronbach’s alphas of .40 and .54, respectively. Hypothesis testing supported the construct validity of the AAPI. Bavolek’s 4-factor structure was not supported. A 19-item modified version of the AAPI with three dimensions was identified. This modified version of the AAPI may provide a more efficacious tool for use with low-income single mothers.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Kent Weaver
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Block Grant ◽  
Work Requirements ◽  
Cash Assistance ◽  
Grant Program ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cash Benefits ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Temporary Assistance

This chapter examines the development and implementation of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block-grant program, and its predecessor, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Federal cash assistance to low-income, primarily single-parent families has been politically controversial since the creation of AFDC in 1935. The creation of TANF in 1996 imposed time limits on receipt of cash assistance and strengthened work requirements, while shifting the focus of expenditures away from cash benefits toward services intended to move adult recipients into work. TANF caseloads have fallen dramatically since 1996, and the employment rate of low-income single mothers has increased, but the social impacts of the TANF program have been mixed.

Establishing Therapeutic Relationships With Vulnerable and Potentially Stigmatized Clients

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Porr ◽  
Jane Drummond ◽  
Karin Olson
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Therapeutic Relationships ◽  
Building Model ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Relationship Experiences ◽  
Pragmatic Variation ◽  
Hearts And Minds

Grounded theory was employed to elucidate how public health nurses (PHNs) develop therapeutic relationships with vulnerable and potentially stigmatized clients, specifically, single mothers living in low-income situations. We named the emerging theoretical model Targeting Essence: Pragmatic Variation of the Therapeutic Relationship, after discovering that although PHNs strove to achieve relational goals, their attention was primarily focused on the goal of ascertaining concerns foremost on the hearts and minds of mothers, and that PHNs had to accomplish these goals within short practice timeframes. The study’s focused context elicited a nuanced explanation of the dynamic relationship-building process derived from subjective relationship experiences of PHNs and single mothers living in low-income situations. We believe Targeting Essence will serve as an effectual relationship-building model, enabling PHNs to know essentially what mothers want and need, and enabling mothers to know essentially that their PHN can be trusted not to render judgment.

Belief in Personal Control Among Low-Income African American, Puerto Rican, and European American Single Mothers

Affilia ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Sparks ◽  
N. Andrew Peterson ◽  
Kathleen Tangenberg
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Single Mothers ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Personal Control ◽  
European American

scholarly journals “I don't have much of a choice”: Low‐income single mothers' COVID ‐19 school and care decisions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Radey ◽  
Lisa Langenderfer‐Magruder ◽  
Joedrecka Brown Speights
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Low Income

scholarly journals Food-Based Dietary Patterns among Low-Income Single Mothers in Terengganu, Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
suriyani muhamad ◽  
Yulita Yulita ◽  
Nor Ermawati Hussain ◽  
Noor Haslina Mohamad Akhir ◽  
Noorhaslinda Kulub Abdul Rashid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Low Income ◽  
P Value ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Relevant Evidence ◽  
Food Pyramid ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
Obese Subjects ◽  
Vegetables And Fruits

Abstract Background: The study is to explore food consumption based on the Malaysian Food Pyramid guideline and dietary related issues among low-income single mothers classified by their Body Mass Index (BMI). Methods: Data were obtained from 519 low-income, single mothers who resided in Kuala Nerus, a district in the state of Terengganu in Malaysia. This study employed the Chi-square test to identify the differences in the tested parameters between the lean/normal and overweight/obese subjects. Results: The current study presented the information of single mothers with low-income, and their food consumption and preference based on the Malaysian Food Pyramid. The subjects were categorised into lean/normal BMI of < 25 and an overweight/obese BMI of > 25. There were significant differences (p-value < 0.05) in the food consumption for the food categories of rice, noodles, bread and cereals and vegetables and fruits between the lean/normal and overweight/obese subjects. Nevertheless, there were insignificant differences (p-value > 0.05) in the food consumption for the food categories of dairy, fish, chicken, meat, legumes and fat, oil, sugar and salt between lean/normal and overweight/obese subjects. There were also mixed results on the dietary related issue between the lean/normal and overweight/obese subjects. Conclusion: Even though there were differences in food consumption of two food categories between both BMI groups, the food consumption was closely consistent with the Malaysian Food Pyramid guideline. The findings had provided relevant evidence and also call for a necessary action from stakeholders to support a healthy diet and nutrition intake, not limited to low-income single mothers', but also other lower socioeconomic status (SES) groups.

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