Striving for Self-Sufficient Families: Urban and Rural Experiences for Women in Welfare-To-Work Programs

ABSTRACT

The creation of welfare-to-work programs across the country has led to a number of questions about the effectiveness of this reform effort and the experiences of welfare recipients. This study of seventeen welfare recipients in the state of Oregon reports on what the welfare-to-work experience is like for women in two types of communities, one rural and one urban. Our findings suggest that women in both communities share similar frustrations, but overall assess the welfare-to-work program ideology positively. Women in the rural community do report more personal challenges in finding and keeping a job based on the lack of public transportation, limited job prospects in the rural area, and dissatisfaction with the education and job skill training available to them.

KEYWORDS:

• Welfare reform
• welfare-to-work
• rural poverty