ANN ARBOR—Years after the 1996 welfare reform passage, many poor mothers are working in low-wage, dead-end jobs and choose to forego additional schooling rather than disrupt their school-aged and teen-aged children’s schedules.

Former welfare recipients find it challenging to balance care giving responsibilities and fulfill their families’ financial and other needs, says University of Michigan researcher Kristin Seefeldt.

“It’s a delicate balance, but many of these women do not want to sacrifice time with their families even if it means not taking a better-paying job,” said Seefeldt, a research investigator at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and assistant director of the National Poverty Center.

More single mothers entered the workforce after 1996, when welfare reforms were enacted. Receiving cash assistance became contingent upon looking for and securing a job, resulting in a growing number of mothers seeking employment rather than staying at home with their children.

Seefeldt analyzed data from the Women’s Employment Study (WES) and interviewed former welfare recipients from an urban county in Michigan.

She also examined policies and programs aimed at assisting low-wage workers and welfare recipients and found limitations of these approaches. For example, the women interviewed were generally disconnected from the state’s welfare-to-work programs and had little or no knowledge of the job assistance services provided by the federal Workforce Investment Act.

In addition, if they attended community college, they likely did so on less than a half-time basis, which made them ineligible for federal and state tuition assistance, such as Pell grants.

Seefeldt proposes that government policies change this focus and do more to support workers instead of just supporting work.

“Single mothers would benefit from a more flexible workplace and working hours, more accessible educational opportunities, and improved access to health and child care,” she said.

Policies intended to address work-family balance issues should include the labor market as a whole, Seefeldt says.

“This acknowledges the special challenges faced by low-income single parents while also granting them the same status as other parents,” she said.

The findings appear in Seefeldt’s book, “Working after Welfare: How Women Balance Jobs and Family in the Wake of Welfare Reform.”

For additional information on Seefeldt, visit: http://fordschool.umich.edu/faculty/Kristin_Seefeldt.

Ford School of Public Policy: http://www.fordschool.umich.edu/

Kristin SeefeldtFord School of Public Policy