Welfare, Work and Well-Being Among Inner-City Mothers

SUMMARY

Family life cycle influences maternal labor force participation and well-being. We model the employment status and well-being of minority, low-income women, recruited during late pregnancy, when their children are 12, 24 and 36 months old. Non-time-varying predictors include mother's ethnicity, age, parity, education, recent household employment experience, birth cohort and initial welfare participation. Time and later fertility are nested within individuals. Welfare participation declined from 80% to46%by 36months; employment increased from 12% to 44%, and full-time employment from 6% to 29%. Likelihood of working was enhanced by high school education and household work experience, but hindered by repeat pregnancy. Among women initially on welfare, working increased over time; among non-welfare recipients, African Americans were more likely to work. When causally prior predictors were controlled, working full-time decreased difficult life circumstances but employment did not affect depression. Evaluations of welfare policy should consider life-cycle events, focusing on small increments of time around the birth of a child.

Key Words:

• Low-income women
• life cycle
• employment
• well-being