The earned income tax credit and union formation: The impact of expected spouse earnings

Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation from 2001, 2004, and 2008 and federal and state variation in earned income tax credit generosity over time, I investigate how changes in expected household earned income tax credit benefits associated with marriage affect cohabitation and marriage behavior among low-income single mothers. I simulate a marriage market to predict potential spouse earnings for a sample of single mothers in order to estimate the potential losses or gains in earned income tax credit benefits upon marriage. Using multinomial logistic regressions, I then analyze how the anticipated loss in earned income tax credit benefits upon marriage affects the likelihood of marrying or cohabiting. Results suggest that the average earned income tax credit-eligible woman can expect to lose approximately US$1,300 in earned income tax credit benefits in the year following marriage, or about half of pre-marriage benefits. Single mothers who expect to lose earned income tax credit benefits upon marriage are 2.5 percentage points less likely to marry their partners and 2.5 percentage points more likely to cohabit compared to single mothers who expect no change or to gain earned income tax credit benefits upon marriage. Despite recent policy efforts to reduce the size of the marriage penalty embedded in the earned income tax credit structure, these results suggest that the earned income tax credit still creates distortions in marriage and cohabitation decisions among low-income single mothers.     

Fathers and families: forging ties that bind

26% of all babies in the US are born to unmarried mothers and nearly 50% of all families headed by a single mother live in poverty. A growing number of programs across the US are seeking the most effective ways to help young unmarried fathers take legal, financial, and emotional responsibility for their children. For example, the Ford Foundation is supporting research and pilot projects that improve the employment opportunities of unwed mothers and fathers of children on welfare. A major obstacle to responsible fatherhood is that many men lack the education, training, and jobs they need to provide for their children. Often, young men are ordered to pay a child support amount that does not take into account their fluctuating employment history. Many programs are providing low-income fathers with the education and job opportunities they need to become consistent providers. Before they can become good fathers, many young men require guidance in dealing with feelings of anger and low self-esteem. Support groups connected with these programs address topics such as male-female relationships, child rearing, decision-making, racism, how to control anger, and what it means to take responsibility for your life. Evaluations are underway to determine what happens to young fathers once they leave these programs.     

Maternal Sensitivity and Child Responsiveness: Associations with Social Context,Maternal Characteristics,and Child Characteristics in a Multivariate Analysis

This study examined unique associations of multiple distal context variables (family socioeconomic status [SES], maternal employment, and paternal parenting) and proximal maternal (personality, intelligence, and knowledge; behavior, self‐perceptions, and attributions) and child (age, gender, representation, language, and sociability) characteristics with maternal sensitivity and child responsiveness in 254 European American mothers and their firstborn 20‐month‐olds. Specific unique relations emerged in hierarchical regression analyses. Mothers who worked fewer hours per week and reported less dissonance in their husbands' didactic parenting, whose children spoke using more vocabulary, and who reported less limit setting in their parenting and attributed their parenting failures to internal causes were observed to be more sensitive in their interactions with their children. Children in higher SES families, whose mothers worked fewer hours and attributed their parenting failures to internal causes, and who themselves used more vocabulary were observed to be more responsive in their interactions with their mothers. Although potential associations are many, when considered together, unique associations with maternal sensitivity and child responsiveness are few, and some are shared whereas others are unique.     

Work Hours,Schedules, and Insufficient Sleep Among Mothers and Their Young Children

Studies have linked parents' employment, work hours, and work schedules to their own sleep quality and quantity, but it is unclear whether these associations extend to children. The authors used data from the 5‐year in‐home survey of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,818) to examine the associations between maternal work hours and schedule and insufficient sleep among disadvantaged mothers and their young children. They found that mothers who worked more than 35 hours per week were more likely to experience insufficient sleep compared to mothers who worked fewer hours, whereas children were more likely to experience insufficient sleep when their mothers worked between 20 and 40 hours. Nonstandard work schedules were associated with an increased likelihood of insufficient sleep for mothers but not their children. The results highlight a potentially difficult balance between work and family for many disadvantaged working mothers in the United States.     

Addressing economic vulnerability among low-income families in America: is the basic income approach a viable policy option?

ABSTRACT

Income instability characterizes the lives of many low-income families in America. Growing income inequality, wage stagnation, unstable jobs, and limited savings are only a few of the factors contributing to the chronic economic insecurity that many low-income families experience today. There has been a renewed interest in recent years in the idea of a basic income as a policy solution to address the problem of income instability. This brief provides an overview of the concept of basic income and discusses its strengths and limitations in promoting financial stability among vulnerable families in both the short- and long-term.     

Negotiating the New Market: Women,Families, Women’s Organizations and the Economic Transition in Poland

Women have been affected more negatively than men by the economic transformation in Poland. They are the majority of the unemployed and the poor, they have a more difficult time finding jobs, and their incomes are significantly lower than mens. The disadvantageous position of women on the labor market, coupled with increasing governmental withdrawal from social provisioning like childcare, health care, and education, has created problems for families, especially for growing numbers of single mothers and two-parent low-income families. The transition to a market economy also has generated a steady growth of womens organizations which have stepped in where the state has withdrawn from social provisioning and provide assistance to women and their families. These organizations are not only helping women and low-income families adjust to the new market situation, but also to negotiate the market so that it better responds to their needs.     

The Earned Income Tax Credit and Rural Families: Differences Between Non-participants and Participants

Differences between rural low-income mothers who were non-participants and participants in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) were examined. About one-third (35%) of the 224 eligible mothers in a multi-state USDA study, Rural Families Speak, did not claim the tax credit. The EITC non-participants were more likely to be Hispanic, be less educated, have larger families, perceive their income as being inadequate, live in more rural counties, and possess little understanding of the EITC. Participating mothers were more likely to be single, food secure, and satisfied with life. Analysis of qualitative data revealed that the mothers had many misconceptions about the EITC. These findings assist in formulating policies and outreach efforts that may increase rural low-income families’ EITC participation.     

The effects of economic instability on children's educational outcomes

Welfare Based on Assets, a Way to Smooth Out Economic Instability and Develop Children's Human Capital is a four-part series of papers that focuses on the relationship between economic instability (i.e., income shocks, asset shocks, home loss, and asset poverty) and children's human capital development. Collectively, these reports build on the compelling observation that the pattern low-income families walk into is a present time oriented or consumption based pattern of behavior; in contrast, the pattern higher income families walk into is future oriented or asset based. In the third paper we find in most cases income shocks and asset shocks do not appear to be harmful to children's educational outcomes. However, children living in liquid and net worth asset poor families have lower academic achievement scores, high school graduation rates, college enrollment rates, and college graduation rates than children living in families that are asset sufficient. Overall, findings can be interpreted as suggesting that a bifurcated welfare system, with income-based programs for poor families and asset-based programs for higher income families, may provide higher income families with an educational advantage over low-income families and might ultimately help exacerbate educational inequalities in America.     

Employment of Unwed Mothers: The Role of Government and Social Support

This paper assesses which types of government and social support predict employment among unwed mothers the year after childbirth. We performed logistic regression analysis on a nationally-representative, mother-only subset of the Fragile Families public-use baseline and 1-year follow-up data. Unwed mothers were more likely to be employed if they received WIC, employment agency assistance, or instrumental social support. They were less likely to be employed if they received TANF, food stamps, housing subsidies, SSI, public housing, or cohabited with a partner. Targeted nutrition programs, employment agencies, and instrumental social support seemed to facilitate employment. Other social programs and cohabiting either served as disincentives to work or gave unwed mothers the option to remain home, depending on the perspective taken.This paper used data from The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study funded by a grant from NICHD (#R01HD36916) and a consortium of private foundations. We thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for comments on earlier drafts of this paper.     

Mature unwed mothers in Israel: Socio-moral and psychological dilemmas

Today, more than ever, women can control their own fertility and dissociate it from long-term intimacy. Among the types of nonmarital fertility, one of the least studied and often most controversial is the phenomenon of childbearing out of wedlock among mature women who are threatened by their own biological clock. It is estimated that there are about 3,000 mature unwed mothers in Israel. No psychological study of this population has so far been undertaken. This article attempts to delineate the demographic characteristics, the reasons for pregnancy, and the moral dilemma of 50 unwed mothers who deliberately decide to give birth as single mothers when they are over the age of 30.Ruth Linn is a senior lecturer in Education, School of Education, Haifa University, Israel 31999. Her research interests include conscientious objection, moral judgment of men and women, socio-moral conflicts in the family, and early childhood education. She received her Ed.D. from the School of Education at Boston University.     

Child Care Use and Parental Desire to Switch Care Type Among a Low-Income Population

This study investigates the use of and satisfaction with child care among low-income families, who are those likely to be affected by recent changes in public policy that emphasize increased work effort. Data from the Survey of Wisconsin Works Families portray differences in the use of center-based care depending on whether or not the family received a child care subsidy. A multivariate analysis of a measure of parental satisfaction, whether a parent would switch child care sources if all care were available at no charge, suggests that parents tend to be more satisfied with center-based care than with alternative forms of care. The analysis also suggests that mothers who received a child care subsidy were significantly more likely to have their children in center-based care.     

Beyond the Mommy Track: The Influence of New-Concept Part-Time Work for Professional Women on Work and Family

This study investigates how the option for new-concept part-time work influences the ability of mothers of preschool children working in professional occupations to successfully integrate work and family responsibilities while maintaining career opportunities. Data are from a subset of the 1996 IBM Work and Life Issues Survey in the United States (n = 687). Compared to their counterparts who worked full time, mothers who worked in these part-time positions reported significantly greater work-family balance and did not report significantly less career opportunity. The part-time group reported 47% fewer work hours and 41% lower income than the full-time group. These data support the notion that new-concept part-time work is a viable option to assist women in professional careers to successfully integrate their family career. Implications of these findings are presented.     

Labor Force Supply Decisions of Rural Low-Income Mothers

Employment is crucial to the economic well-being of families. Using a multi-state sample of 412 rural low-income mothers, our study identifies factors influencing two employment decisions they make: labor force entry and number of hours supplied. A logistic regression model correctly predicted 80% of mothers’ work participation decisions. Employed mothers were older, better educated, and less likely to suffer from depression; as well as, more likely to have a driver’s license and receive child care assistance and the Earned Income Tax Credit. An estimated labor supply function explained 33% of the variation in hours worked by the 208 employed rural mothers. Higher wages, availability of health insurance, and overtime benefits predicted the number of hours they were willing to work.

Paid family leave: supporting work attachment among lower income mothers

ABSTRACT

Around the time of childbirth, low-income families are at particular economic risk for reasons including mothers’ relatively high levels of separation from work. Lower wage jobs typically come with minimal paid leave that can be used at childbirth. Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs provide partially subsidized wages to new parents. Quantitative research links PFL with greater post-birth work attachment among mothers, including lower wage mothers. This qualitative study sought to explore factors that facilitate – and inhibit – lower income mothers’ returns to work following childbirth and the role of PFL programs. Seventy-one percent of the 75 mothers in the study returned to work. They cited their need for income, desire for financial independence, preference for combining work and caregiving, supportive workplace practices, family help, and accessible and trustworthy child care. They described ways PFL supported employment, especially for single mothers and those with the fewest family resources. Twenty-nine percent of the mothers left work after childbirth for reasons including child care costs, a desire (or need) to remain home rather than work, low job quality, lack of job protection, and PFL program limitations. The findings suggest future research directions and pathways for service providers and others to support these families.     

Family Adaptations to Income and Job Loss in the U.S.

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examines the extent to which families experience major economic setbacks and how they respond. Families that experience a substantial loss of income or work hours are more likely to cut back on expenditures, receive public assistance, experience divorce or separation, and move. No evidence that partners are able to compensate for a major income loss by increasing their work hours was found. Initial conditions, such as income and assets, the unemployment rate of the area, and race, affect how a family adapts. Families with fewer resources and those who live in areas of high unemployment are more likely to rely on public assistance, and they are less likely to move, increase the work hours of the female head of household, or cut food expenditures.     

Effects of Employment-Based Programs on Families by Prior Levels of Disadvantage

This study examines how welfare and employment policies affect subpopulations of low-income families that have different levels of initial disadvantage. Education, prior earnings, and welfare receipt are used to measure disadvantage. The analysis of data from experiments suggests that employment-based programs have no effects on economic well-being among the least-disadvantaged low-income, single-parent families, but they have positive effects on employment and income for the most-disadvantaged and moderately disadvantaged families. These programs increase school achievement and enrollment in center-based child care of children only in moderately disadvantaged families. The most-disadvantaged families are found to increase use of child care that is not center based. Parents in these families experience depressive symptoms and aggravation. The findings raise questions about how to support families at the lowest end of the economic spectrum.     

But the kids are okay: motherhood, consumption and sex work in neo-liberal Latin America

Although sex work remains highly stigmatized around the world, its relatively high value (when compared to other kinds of work available for low-income women) allows sex workers to attain some level of economic, if not social, mobility. This article challenges the idea that sex work in 'third world' settings is always about mere subsistence. Instead, it suggests that sex workers in Costa Rica's tourism sector work to survive, but they also demonstrate significant personal ambition and aim not only to increase their own consumption levels, but crucially to get ahead. Women are clear about what sex work enables for their families and themselves: not the maintenance of the status quo, but rather a level of consumption otherwise unavailable to them as low-income and poor women. Sex work offers an opportunity to consume and to get ahead that these women have been unable to attain in other kinds of employment, primarily domestic and factory work. Furthermore, sex work allows women to think of themselves as particularly good mothers, able to provide for and spend important quality time with their kids. The article argues that survival, consumption, and motherhood are discursively deployed, in often contradictory and conflicting ways, in order to counteract the effects that stigma has on sex workers. It also suggests that sex workers may very well be the quintessential subjects of neo-liberalism in Latin America, in their embrace of entrepreneurial work and consumption.     

Dads care too! Participation in paid employment and experiences of workplace flexibility for Australian fathers caring for children and young adults with disabilities

This study uses Australian survey data to explore whether caring for children and young people with disabilities affects paid employment participation of fathers who identify as the secondary caregiver. More fathers in the study were in full-time employment than those in the general Australian population, but they worked fewer hours, often in jobs they did not enjoy or roles with less responsibility. Over one third of fathers reported that caring had impacted on their job opportunities or career progression, particularly those whose children had more severe disabilities. The financial costs of raising a child with disabilities and their caring obligations informed many of the decisions fathers made in relation to employment. Fixed hours of work, lack of understanding from their employer, an income tied to hours worked and staff resources were cited as reasons why almost half of the fathers felt they were unable to access flexible working conditions to assist with their child’s care. Self-employment was seen by many fathers as desirable, but the perceived increase in flexibility may be accompanied by an increase in work hours. Implications for paternal well-being are discussed, along with the lifelong implications of caring on employment and financial security for families in the Australian context.     

Culture,Context, or Religion: What Really Gets Single Mothers down the Aisle

Abstract

This article examines whether the relationship between religious participation and marriage behaviors for low-income single mothers is influenced by social norms and structural factors that promote the formation of traditional families. Specifically, we test whether religious participation encourages marriage generally or whether a specific type of marriage is encouraged (e.g., marriage to the baby's biological father). Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,491), we examine the likelihood that religious participation increases marriage in single mothers. We find that the likelihood of marriage within four years after an unwed birth is not only related to church attendance but that the influence of church attendance seems to encourage the creation of biological families rather than simply two-parent households. Further, religious participation differentially influences the likelihood of marriage and a marriage partner based upon the mother's race and employment history. These findings highlight the importance of social context when analyzing marriage behaviors in single mothers.     

TANF’s 15th Anniversary and the Great Recession: are Low‐Income Mothers Celebrating Upward Economic Mobility?

This article examines the impact of welfare reform for the upward economic mobility of low‐income families at the fifteenth anniversary of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The reformed policy was based on assumptions about participating families’ morality and encouraged states to move families off welfare through work and marriage without considering whether they were still poor. TANF was also implemented during an economic boom. Today, the US economy is suffering from the effects of the Great Recession, with many fearing a double dip recession. Poverty rates rose during the last 3 years and are currently above 15 percent. For the first time since 1996, the welfare rolls are increasing in many states. Welfare reform’s ‘work first’ approach did not create lasting upward economic mobility for low‐income families. As an alternative, I explore how higher education for welfare mothers will create opportunities for lasting upward mobility, even in times of recession.