IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jjrfmx/v14y2021i6p265-d573364.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Examining Low-Income Single-Mother Families’ Experiences with Family Benefit Packages during and after the Great Recession in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Yu-Ling Chang

    (School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley, 120 Haviland Hall MC 7400, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA)

  • Chi-Fang Wu

    (School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1010 West Nevada Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA)

Abstract

The recent economic recession triggered by the global pandemic has renewed scholarly interest in the role of social welfare systems in supporting economically vulnerable families when they experience employment instability. This article unpacks the patterns of the cash and in-kind components of the monthly family benefit packages that US low-income single mothers accessed during and after the Great Recession. We used the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation and an innovative analytic procedure involving family benefit package plots, group-based trajectory modeling, and logistic regression modeling. We found that low-income single mothers more often used in-kind basic-needs packages and less often used packages that bundle a cash benefit or a childcare subsidy, regardless of their dynamic employment status. Our findings challenge the effectiveness of the US work-based welfare system in ensuring the economic security of economically vulnerable families and contribute to the policy discussions on unconditional basic income and President Biden’s American Families Plan.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu-Ling Chang & Chi-Fang Wu, 2021. "Examining Low-Income Single-Mother Families’ Experiences with Family Benefit Packages during and after the Great Recession in the United States," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-19, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:14:y:2021:i:6:p:265-:d:573364
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/14/6/265/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/14/6/265/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 1997. "Institutional Changes and Rising Wage Inequality: Is There a Linkage?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 75-96, Spring.
    2. Marianne Bitler & Hilary Hoynes & Elira Kuka, 2017. "Child Poverty, the Great Recession, and the Social Safety Net in the United States," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(2), pages 358-389, March.
    3. Wu, Chi-Fang, 2011. "Long-term employment and earnings among low-income families with children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 91-101, January.
    4. Cancian, Maria & Han, Eunhee & Noyes, Jennifer L., 2014. "From multiple program participation to disconnection: Changing trajectories of TANF and SNAP beneficiaries in Wisconsin," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 91-102.
    5. Mulligan, Casey B., 2012. "The Redistribution Recession: How Labor Market Distortions Contracted the Economy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199942213.
    6. Marianne P. Bitler & Hilary W. Hoynes, 2010. "The State of Social Safety Net in the Post-Welfare Reform Era," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 41(2 (Fall)), pages 71-147.
    7. Gizem Kosar & Robert A. Moffitt, 2017. "Trends in Cumulative Marginal Tax Rates Facing Low-Income Families, 1997-2007," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(1), pages 43-70.
    8. Marianne Bitler & Hilary W. Hoynes, 2010. "The State of the Safety Net in the Post-Welfare Reform Era," NBER Working Papers 16504, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Scott W. Allard & Maria V. Wathen & Sandra K. Danziger, 2015. "Bundling Public and Charitable Supports to Cope with the Effects of the Great Recession," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1348-1362, November.
    10. Sandra K. Danziger & Sheldon Danziger & Kristin S. Seefeldt & H. Luke Shaefer, 2016. "From Welfare To A Work‐Based Safety Net: An Incomplete Transition," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(1), pages 231-238, January.
    11. Marianne Bitler & Hilary Hoynes, 2016. "The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same? The Safety Net and Poverty in the Great Recession," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 403-444.
    12. Gregory Acs & Pamela Loprest, 2004. "Leaving Welfare: Employment and Well-Being of Families that Left WElfare in the Post-Entitlement Age," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number lw, August.
    13. Robert G. Wood & Quinn Moore & Anu Rangarajan, "undated". "Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: The Uneven Economic Progress of TANF Recipients," Mathematica Policy Research Reports c70dc231246541b7a53cc28d9, Mathematica Policy Research.
    14. Rucker C. Johnson, 2007. "Wage and Job Dynamics after Welfare Reform: The Importance of Job Skills," Research in Labor Economics, in: Aspects of Worker Well-Being, pages 231-298, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    15. Marcia K. Meyers & Janet C. Gornick & Laura R. Peck, 2001. "Packaging Support for Low-Income Families: Policy Variation across the United States," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(3), pages 457-483.
    16. repec:mpr:mprres:4276 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Sheldon Danziger & Colleen M. Heflin & Mary E. Corcoran & Elizabeth Oltmans & Hui-Chen Wang, 2002. "Does it pay to move from welfare to work?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 671-692.
    18. Chulhee Lee, 2008. "Rising family income inequality in the United States, 1968-2000: impacts of changing labor supply, wages, and family structure," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 253-272.
    19. Bradley Hardy & Timothy Smeeding & James P. Ziliak, 2018. "The Changing Safety Net for Low-Income Parents and Their Children: Structural or Cyclical Changes in Income Support Policy?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(1), pages 189-221, February.
    20. Esther Yin-Nei Cho, 2017. "Child Benefit Portfolios Across OECD Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 1099-1115, July.
    21. Hilary Hoynes & Jesse Rothstein, 2019. "Universal Basic Income in the United States and Advanced Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 929-958, August.
    22. Slack, Kristen S. & Kim, Bomi & Yang, Mi-Youn & Berger, Lawrence M., 2014. "The economic safety net for low-income families with children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 213-219.
    23. Christopher J. O'Leary & Ken Kline, 2014. "Use of Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program Benefits by Unemployment Insurance Applicants in Michigan during the Great Recession," Upjohn Working Papers 14-210, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    24. repec:mpr:mprres:5846 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Prell, Mark A. & Finifter, David H., 2013. "Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Unemployment Insurance How Tight Are the Strands of the Recessionary Safety Net?," Economic Research Report 160453, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    26. Finifter, David H. & Prell, Mark A., 2013. "Participation in SNAP and Unemployment Insurance: How Tight Are the Strands of the Recessionary Safety Net?," Economic Research Report 262216, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    27. Sheldon Danziger & Colleen M. Heflin & Mary Corcoran & Elizabeth Oltmans, 2002. "Does it Pay to Move from Welfare to Work?," JCPR Working Papers 254, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    28. Kwon, Hyeok Chang & Meyer, Daniel R., 2011. "How do economic downturns affect welfare leavers? A comparison of two cohorts," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 588-597, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Slack, Kristen S. & Kim, Bomi & Yang, Mi-Youn & Berger, Lawrence M., 2014. "The economic safety net for low-income families with children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 213-219.
    2. Bradley Hardy & Timothy Smeeding & James P. Ziliak, 2018. "The Changing Safety Net for Low-Income Parents and Their Children: Structural or Cyclical Changes in Income Support Policy?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(1), pages 189-221, February.
    3. Waring, Melody K. & Meyer, Daniel R., 2020. "Welfare, work, and single mothers: The Great Recession and income packaging strategies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    4. Sarah K. Bruch & Janet C. Gornick & Joseph van der Naald, 2020. "Geographic Inequality in Social Provision: Variation across the US States," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Distribution and Mobility of Income and Wealth, pages 499-527, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Kwon, Hyeok Chang & Meyer, Daniel R., 2011. "How do economic downturns affect welfare leavers? A comparison of two cohorts," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 588-597, May.
    6. Wu, Chi-Fang, 2011. "Long-term employment and earnings among low-income families with children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 91-101, January.
    7. Bruch, Sarah K. & van der Naald, Joseph & Gornick, Janet C., 2022. "Poverty Reduction through Federal and State Policy Mechanisms: Variation Over Time and Across the U.S. States," SocArXiv jz5xp, Center for Open Science.
    8. Marianne Bitler & Hilary Hoynes & Elira Kuka, 2017. "Child Poverty, the Great Recession, and the Social Safety Net in the United States," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(2), pages 358-389, March.
    9. Marianne Bitler & Hilary Hoynes, 2016. "The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same? The Safety Net and Poverty in the Great Recession," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 403-444.
    10. James P. Ziliak, 2015. "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, Volume 1, pages 303-393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Megan M. Reynolds & Ashley M. Fox & Yvette Young, 2021. "State‐level social safety nets for families coping with job loss," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(2), pages 121-138, June.
    12. Dan Brown & Elisabetta De Cao, 2017. "The Impact of Unemployment on Child Maltreatment in the United States," Economics Papers 2017-W04, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    13. Lucie Schmidt, 2013. "The New Safety Net? Supplemental Security Income after Welfare Reform," Department of Economics Working Papers 2013-07, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    14. East, Chloe N. & Kuka, Elira, 2015. "Reexamining the consumption smoothing benefits of Unemployment Insurance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 32-50.
    15. Elisabetta De Cao, 2017. "The Impact of Unemployment on Child Maltreatment in the United States," Economics Series Working Papers 837, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    16. Hayashi, Masayoshi, 2014. "Forecasting welfare caseloads: The case of the Japanese public assistance program," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 105-114.
    17. Geoffrey L. Wallace & Robert Haveman, 2007. "The implications of differences between employer and worker employment|earnings reports for policy evaluation," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 737-754.
    18. Martha Starr, 2014. "Gender, added-worker effects, and the 2007–2009 recession: Looking within the household," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 209-235, June.
    19. Tiehen, Laura & Jolliffe, Dean & Gundersen, Craig, 2012. "Alleviating Poverty in the United States: The Critical Role of SNAP Benefits," Economic Research Report 262233, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    20. Hershbein, Brad & Stuart, Bryan A., 2023. "Place-based consequences of person-based transfers: Evidence from recessions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:14:y:2021:i:6:p:265-:d:573364. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.