Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Impediments to Mothers Leaving Welfare: The Role of Maternal and Child Disability

  • Published:
Population Research and Policy Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This research examines the relationship between disabilities in families and exits from welfare. Controlling for variations in characteristics known to be associated with welfare exits, this study investigates and documents that specific configurations of disabilities in families are also strongly associated with reduced rates of welfare exits. The impact of a child with a disability on welfare exits is similar to the mother's own disability, with an impact equivalent in magnitude to minority status. The presence of a child with a disability limits the chances that a mother with disability will leave welfare. Our findings add to the literature on welfare dependency and have implications for welfare reforms that emphasize work, self-sufficiency, and reducing poverty.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Blank, R.M. & Ruggles, P. (1994). Short-term recidivism among public-assistance recipients, American Economic Review 84: 49-53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandon, P.D. (1995). What happens to single mothers after AFDC? Focus 17: 13-15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandon, P.D. (2000). Child care utilization among working mothers raising children with disabilities, Journal of Family and Economic Issues 21: 343-364.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breslau, N. (1983). Care of disabled children and women’s time use, Medical Care 21: 620-629.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breslau, N., Salkever, D. & Staruch, K.S. (1982). Women’s labor force activity and responsibilities for disabled dependents: a study of families with disabled children, Journal of Health and Social Behavior 23: 169-183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, D.R. (1972). Regression models and life-tables (with discussion), Journal of the Royal Statistical Society B34: 187-220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Danziger, S., Corcoran, M., Danziger, S., Heflen, C., Kalil, A., Levine, J., Rosen, D., seefeldt, K., Siefert, D. & Tolman, R. (1997). Barriers to the employment of welfare recipients. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Poverty Research and Training Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Danziger, S., Sandefur, S. & Weinberg, D. (1995). Confronting poverty: Prescriptions for change. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darling, R.B. (1987). The economic and psychosocial consequences of disability: family-society relationships, Marriage and Family Review 11: 45-61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardiner, K.N. & Fishman, M.E. (2001). Employing welfare recipients with significant barriers to work: Lessons from the disability field. The Lewin Group.

  • Harris, K.M. (1993). Work and welfare among single mothers in poverty, American Journal of Sociology 99: 317-352.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, K. (1996). Life after welfare: women, work, and repeat dependency, American Sociological Review 61: 207-246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckman, J.J. & Singer, B. (1984). Econometric duration analysis, Journal of Econometrics24: 63-132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodapp, R.M. & Krasner, D.V. (1994). Families of children with disabilities: findings from a national sample of eighth-grade students, Exceptionality 5: 71-81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofferth, S.L. & Collins, N. (2000). Childcare and employment turnover. Population Research and Policy Review 19: 357-395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofferth, S.L., Stanhope, S. & Harris, K.M. (2002). Exiting welfare in the 1990s: Did public policy influence recipients’ behavior? Population Research and Policy Review21: 433-472.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogan, D.P., Msall, M., Rogers, M. & Avery, R. (1997). Improved disability population estimates of functional limitation among American children aged 5-17, Maternal and Child Health Journal 1: 203-216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hogan, D.P., Rogers, M.L. & Msall, M.E. (2000). Functional limitations and key indicators of well-being in children with disabilities, Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 154: 1042-1048.

    Google Scholar 

  • acobs, P. & McDermott, S. (1989). Family caregiver costs of chronically ill and handicapped children: method and literature review, Public Health Reports 104: 158-163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, S. (1998). Families’ experiences of caring at home for a technology-dependent child: a review of the literature, Child: Care, Health and Development 24: 101- 114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knoll, J. (1992). Being a family: the experience of raising a child with a disability or chronic illness, Monographs of the American Association on Mental Retardation 18: 9-56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kubik, J.D. (2003). Fiscal federalism and welfare policy: the role of states in the growth of child SSI, National Tax Journal LVI: 61-79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kubik, J.D. (1999). Incentives for the identification and treatment of children with disabilities: the supplemental security income program, Journal of Public Economics73: 187-215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukemeyer, A., Meyers, M.K. & Smeeding, T. (2000). Expensive children in poor families: out-of-pocket expenditures for the care of disabled and chronically ill children in welfare families, Journal of Marriage and the Family 62: 399- 415.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCullagh, P. & Nelder, J.A. (1989). Generalized linear models, 2nd edn. New York: Chapman and Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, B.D. (1990). Unemployment insurance and unemployment spells, Econometrica58: 757-782.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyers, M.K., Brady, H.E. & Seto, E.Y. (2001). Expensive children in poor families: The intersection of childhood disabilities and welfare, San Francisco, CA: Public Policy Institute of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, R. (1992). Incentive effects of the US welfare system: a review, Journal of Economic Literature XXX: 1-61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, R. (1994). Welfare effects on female headship with area effects, Journal of Human Resources 29: 621-636.

    Google Scholar 

  • Msall, M., Avery, R., Tremont, M., Lima, J., Rogers, M. & Hogan, D. (2003). Functional disability and school activity limitations in 41,300 school-age children: Relationships to medical impairments, Pediatrics 111: 548-554.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Commission on Childhood Disability (1995). Supplemental security income for children with disabilities, Report to Congress of the National Commission on Childhood Disability, Washington, DC: US GPO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pati, S., Romero, D. & Chavkin, W. (2002). Changes in use of health insurance and food assistance in medically underserved communities in the era of welfare reform: an urban study, American Journal of Public Health 92: 1441-1445.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prentice, R.L. & Gloeckler, L.A. (1978). Regression analysis of grouped survival data with application to breast cancer data, Biometrics 34: 57-67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, M.L. & Hogan, D.P. (in press). The family consequences of medical inputs and rehabilitation services for a child with a disability, Journal of Marriage and Family.

  • Rogers, M.L., Hogan, D.P. & Holder K.A. (2002). The consequences of disability in the family for children’s health and well-being, Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Atlanta, Georgia.

  • Romero, D., Chavkin, W., Wise, P.H., Smith, L.A. & Wood, P.R. (2002). Welfare to work? Impact of maternal health on employment, American Journal of Public Health92: 1462-1468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salkever, D.S. (1982). Children’s health problems and maternal work status, Journal of Human Resources 27: 94-109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, L.A., Romero, D., Wood, P.R., Wampler, N.S., Chavkin, W. & Wise, P.H. (2002). Employment barriers among welfare recipients and applicants with chronically ill children, American Journal of Public Health 92: 1453-1457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thyen, U., Kuhlthau, K. & Perrin, J.M. (1999). Employment, child care, and mental health of mothers caring for children assisted by technology, Pediatrics 103: 1235- 1242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • US Bureau of the Census (2001). Survey of income and program participation users’ guide: Supplement to the technical documentation, 3rd edn. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • US House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means (1998). Overview of entitlement programs: 1993 green book. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Social Security Administration (2003). Available from <http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10026.html#ssi-benefits>.

  • Wise, P.H., Wampler, N.S., Chavkin, W. & Romero, D. (2002). Chronic illness among poor children enrolled in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, American Journal of Public Health 92: 1458-1461.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, P.R., Smith, L.A., Romero, D., Bradshaw, P., Wise, P.H. & Chavkin, W. (2002). Relationships between welfare status, health insurance status, and health and medical care among children with asthma, American Journal of Public Health 92: 1446-1452.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA, Phone: +

    Peter D. Brandon

  2. Brown University, Providence, RI Ozgiz, USA

    Dennis P. Hogan

Authors
  1. Peter D. Brandon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dennis P. Hogan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brandon, P.D., Hogan, D.P. Impediments to Mothers Leaving Welfare: The Role of Maternal and Child Disability. Population Research and Policy Review 23, 419–436 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:POPU.0000040021.82948.4d

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:POPU.0000040021.82948.4d

Search

Navigation