Lecture 20 Teen pregnancy US highest rate of teen pregnancy birth and abortion in industrialized world Record low 1994 2001 due to programs aimed at reducing teen pregnancy 52 of mother s on welfare at any given time are teen mothers Teen mothers not getting married having children out of wedlock Causes Living in poor developments minority families or headed by a female cause higher rates of teen pregnancy Perception of limited life options discouraged to reach goals o Lowered measured abilities No welfare correlation Consequences As young mothers teen moms have o Poorer health o Low birth weight babies stillborns newborn deaths Less likely to finish high school more likely to use welfare More likely to divorce or never marry Higher income women use contraception more successfully Pregnancy more common among low income women 70 of higher income women who become pregnant have abortions Goals of teen pregnancy programs Promote health Change declining rates of marriage Move young families out of poverty Provide better education Support youth development Most successful programs Sexual education Access to contraceptives Youth programs Feminization of poverty group Disproportionate number of women in poverty more single mothers among this Rapid increase 1950 1970 Discrimination among single mothers need of absence lack of commitment o This is illegal but don t have access to lawyer to defend them Less than 20 of all families are female headed 2 3 adults in poverty are women BUT Half of all families in poverty are female headed households 38 of African American female headed households are in poverty UMich study female headed households are 15 times more likely to stay in poverty for 2 straight years than married couples Why feminization of poverty Increase in children born outside of marriage Increase of divorce Delay in age of first marriage Hard to come back to work after you have left Change in economy o Increase of women s labor force participation Gap in earnings has decreased o Men s earnings have stagnated or declined Marry to improve financial situations Changes in public assistance o TANF for younger women o Social security for older women o Bulk of cases are single young mothers and their families o Timeline for how long you can stay on welfare forcing families to find jobs Mothering strategies Agency based services used least by women Must get a job or will lose TANF All our Kin Stack showed how kin networks provide support and stability contributing to African American resilency Many poor women put motherhood before marriage comfort of a child o Want to get financials in order before they marry o Do not want to deal with divorce o Having children outside of marriage is not as abnormal as it used to be Partnership Relationships Limited relationships Perceptions of low income men Edin Burton o Unworthy o Risks due to violence drugs o Anxiety about reliability Cherlin 85 of mothers found that having children in 20s and married was desirable Low income families have similar values as high income families but don t have resources to acquire them Relaxed paternal expectations Fathers be there and provide support for their children and families consistently Flexible maternal role Other women can play role of mother such as aunts grandmothers while mother s work Lecture 21 Targeted social welfare and other safety nets Myths of Welfare Once on welfare always on welfare o go off in 2 years o 2 3 go off within 3 years o Those who go off sooner are over age 25 with a high school diploma and a longer work history Welfare recipiants don t want to work o 80 on welfare have outside wages Children raised on welfare use welfare o 2 3 daughters of highly dependent welfare users do not go on welfare o 16 used sometimes o 20 higher use Most women on welfare are African American o Most are but white follow close behind Causes families to break up o Rise of singe parent households not due to welfare Women on welfare have kids for money o Each additional year on welfare odds of conceiving decrease o 42 have one child 30 have two children Most teen mothers turn to welfare o 5 of mothers on welfare are teenagers but will most likely utilize later Payments are too generous o Not enough money to truly raise a person out of poverty Aid to Dependent Children ADC Part of SSA Children with deceased incarcerated or deserted parents Aid to Families with Dependent Children AFDC 1961 1995 Aimed at single mothers and women of color Assumption of poor women as undeserving Assumption of absent fathers Focus on work but wasn t as successful as they hoped o Establishment of work incentives WIN 1967 o JOBS 1998 Reforming of welfare Provide assistance to needy families to care for children End dependency on government assistance promote marriage job preparation Prevent reduce out of wedlock pregnancies Encourage two parent families Transform system transition to work support End of welfare as we know it TANF Promoting job readiness and job training to give skills Prevent out of wedlock pregnancies PRWORA Personal responsibility and work opportunity reconciliation act 1996 States now receive chunk of money to divide between families instead of federal government 1 Entitlements and Block Grants No longer guarantee of aid o Work requirements must be met o Can t stay on past 5 years o Increase of state flexibility 2 Time limits Time limits on cash benefits 60 months or 5 years over entire life 3 Work Requirements 50 of recipients must participate in work activities If work activities are reduced TANF check reduced 20 of state recipients are exempt Each dollar earned in a job reduces cash benefits by a dollar o Working families hit limit as fast as non working families State variations Wisconsin o W2 Program o New Hope range of services o WEP Work Experience Program New York Minnesota o MN Family Investment Program o Keep Paying benefits after employment Delinking and Diversion AFDC receipt packaged with Food Stamps and Medicaid o Funds to pay for delinking TANF now linked to CHIP programs children s health care Family Cap Denying mothers and families who receive welfare further financial assistance after the birth of another child Lecture 23 Complete Safety Net Social policy for mothers and children in poverty Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP Enacted in 1964 to alleviate hunger and malnutrition in low income families PWORA brought major changes to the food stamp system Eliminated immigrant eligibility