Time Binds: US Antipoverty Policies, Poverty, and the Well-Being of Single Mothers

Feminists have long identified the gendered nature of welfare/social protection state policies (for examples, see Barbara J. Nelson [1990] and Jane Lewis [1992]).

Public housing refers to housing units that are owned (or leased) and maintained by the federal government, usually in large clusters. The Section 8 voucher program provides a “voucher” to an eligible tenant who can then use it to procure privately owned rental housing. The unit must meet certain living standards and landlords must charge a fair market rent. Public housing and Section 8 renters pay 30 percent of their income toward rent.

In 2008, the Food Stamps program was renamed Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). The more familiar name, Food Stamps, is used here.

There are other programs and tax credits aimed at poor and low-income households, but these six are the main programs available to non-elder, nondisabled families in the US.

Medicaid, the means-tested health insurance program, was established in the same legislation as Medicare and had “its origins as a health coverage program for welfare recipients” (Kaiser Family Foundation Citation2005).

Woman-headed households with no other family member present comprised 17.6 percent of all households in 2009 and 9.6 percent in 1960 (US Bureau of the Census Citation2010a: Table HH1).

In the US, being poor means living in a family whose income falls below official poverty income thresholds. In 2009, that was $10,830 for one person, $14,570 for a family of two, and $18,310 for a family of three. “Family” in this case refers to persons living with someone related by blood, birth, or adoption as well as individuals not living with any family members, in which case their individual income is their “family” income (US Bureau of the Census Citation2011). The term “low income” refers to living in a family with income not more than 200 percent of the official poverty income thresholds.

The heated debates over welfare reform often extolled the virtues of personal responsibility and derided women's dependency. Emblematic of these debates is the name of the 1996 legislation that abolished AFDC and established TANF – The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The debate also was infused with negative racial stereotypes of welfare recipients. The flavor of this debate is captured in documents compiled by Gwendolyn Mink and Rickie Solinger (2003).

Some children live with their unmarried mothers as well as their fathers, but the percentage is small. In 2008, of all children in low-income families (with income 200 percent of the FPL), 48.9 percent lived with their married parents compared with 5.6 percent who lived with their unmarried parents. Of the remaining children, 41.2 percent lived with their mother only and 4.3 percent with their father only (US Bureau of the Census Citation2010b: Table C3). Some children of these unmarried mothers (and fathers) may be living with other adults in the household; however, it is hard to make assumptions about how these adults help with taking care of children.

Twenty-four states have their own EITC programs. Most “piggyback” on the federal EITC amounts (meaning they allow tax filers to take a percent of the federal EITC), but are administered and funded completely separately.

The rules are more complicated than stated here. States need to engage 50 percent of single-parent and 90 percent of two-parent families in these paid work requirements or be penalized financially, with possible reductions in these percentages if they reduce caseloads. Further, TANF recipients, with few exceptions, must meet paid work requirements within two years of receipt (US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families 2009b).

As part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, Food Stamp benefits were increased temporarily. In 2009, a family of three with no income would receive a maximum benefit of $526 per month, $63 more than in 2008 (USDA Food and Nutrition Service 2010).

Single-mother families must meet two income thresholds: a gross income limit (130 percent of the FPL), and a net income limit (allows deductions for childcare and housing).

States can and do impose various time-consuming qualifications. For example, Texas recently instituted mandatory drug testing.

Bruce D. Meyer and James X. Sullivan (2008: 2230) indicate that from 2001 to 2003, about one-third of single mothers in the bottom half of the consumption distribution were in public or subsidized housing.

In 2007, 64 percent of families with childcare assistance from the Child Care and Development Fund made a co-payment (US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families 2009c: Table 17).

In 2006, there were 1.8 million families receiving TANF and 3.65 million poor single-mother families (US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families 2009a; US Bureau of the Census Citation2010c). Single mothers are 90 percent of adults receiving TANF.

A recent study finds that having access to a car improved the chances of getting a better job and one with more favorable hours of paid work for women receiving TANF (Tami Gurley and Donald Bruce 2005).

Kaushal, Gao, and Waldfogel (2007) do take into account changes in cost of employment by measuring the changes in expenditures for items associated with increased employment. They find that employment-related expenses (transportation, food away from home, and adult clothing) for single mothers saw a noteworthy increase due to welfare reform changes. They also find a substantial increase in housing and medical expenses when comparing changes in expenditures to single mothers with low levels of education to those with high levels (their proxy for likelihood of receiving welfare).