IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jfamec/v46y2025i2d10.1007_s10834-024-09978-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When One Is Not Enough: Exploring the Intersection of Multiple Public Benefits and Multiple Material Hardships in Low-Income Single-Mother Families

Author

Listed:
  • Chi-Fang Wu

    (University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign)

  • Jeehae Kang

    (University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign)

  • Soohyun Yoon

    (University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign)

  • Steven Anderson

    (University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign)

Abstract

Families headed by single mothers face economic vulnerability, and many rely on multiple public benefit programs. This study explored multiple benefits program participation and its relationship with material hardship among low-income single-mother families in the United States. Using nationally representative data, we employed cluster analysis to explore patterns of multiple program participation in 10 benefits programs and used logistic regression to examine the relationships between program participation clusters and material hardship. Four program participation groups emerged: Many Benefits, Moderate Benefits, Only School Meal, and No Benefits. Material hardships (i.e., food hardship, medical hardship, unmet basic needs, housing hardship) were prevalent across all clusters. However, the Many Benefits group, which received the highest number of benefits, exhibited the highest rate of both food hardship (43.17%) and unmet basic needs (51.09%). Despite receiving more support than other groups, this group was more likely than the other groups to experience these hardships (except for medical hardship) that public benefits are designed to alleviate. This finding underscores the limitations of current social benefits and calls for policy revisions that enhance the amount, duration, and accessibility of public benefits to promote the well-being of the United States’ most vulnerable families.

Suggested Citation

  • Chi-Fang Wu & Jeehae Kang & Soohyun Yoon & Steven Anderson, 2025. "When One Is Not Enough: Exploring the Intersection of Multiple Public Benefits and Multiple Material Hardships in Low-Income Single-Mother Families," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 598-612, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:46:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10834-024-09978-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-024-09978-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10834-024-09978-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10834-024-09978-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patricia M. Anderson & Kristin F. Butcher & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2015. "Changes in Safety Net Use during the Great Recession," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 161-165, May.
    2. Chi-Fang Wu & Yu-Ling Chang & Soohyun Yoon & Salma Musaad, 2022. "How do low-income single-mothers get by when unemployment strikes: Patterns of multiple program participation after transition from employment to unemployment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(9), pages 1-22, September.
    3. 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.
    4. Jennifer Stuber & Karl Kronebusch, 2004. "Stigma and other determinants of participation in TANF and Medicaid," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(3), pages 509-530.
    5. 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.
    6. repec:wly:soecon:v:83:2:y:2016:p:464-486 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Susan E. Mayer & Christopher Jencks, 1989. "Poverty and the Distribution of Material Hardship," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 24(1), pages 88-114.
    8. J. Gower & P. Legendre, 1986. "Metric and Euclidean properties of dissimilarity coefficients," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 3(1), pages 5-48, March.
    9. Mathieu Despard & Michal Grinstein-Weiss & Shenyang Guo & Samuel Taylor & Blair Russell, 2018. "Financial Shocks, Liquid Assets, and Material Hardship in Low- and Moderate-Income Households: Differences by Race," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 1(4), pages 205-216, December.
    10. 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.
    11. Jeehoon Han, 2016. "The Impact of SNAP on Material Hardships: Evidence From Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility Expansions," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 83(2), pages 464-486, October.
    12. McKernan, Signe-Mary & Ratcliffe, Caroline & Braga, Breno, 2021. "The effect of the US safety net on material hardship over two decades," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    13. Vericker, Tracy & Fortuny, Karina & Finegold, Kenneth & Ozdemir, Sevgi Bayram, 2010. "Effects of Immigration on WIC and NSLP Caseloads," Contractor and Cooperator Reports 292083, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    14. Wei Fu & Chen Huang & Feng Liu, 2023. "Unemployment benefits, food insecurity, and supplemental nutrition assistance program spending," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(2), pages 479-502, March.
    15. Jeehoon Han, 2016. "The Impact of SNAP on Material Hardships: Evidence From Broad‐Based Categorical Eligibility Expansions," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(2), pages 464-486, October.
    16. 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).
    17. Sung S. Park & Emily E. Wiemers & Judith A. Seltzer, 2019. "The Family Safety Net of Black and White Multigenerational Families," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 45(2), pages 351-378, June.
    18. Paulette Cha & José J Escarce, 2022. "The Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion: A difference-in-differences study of spillover participation in SNAP," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(5), pages 1-20, May.
    19. Travis A. Smith & Christian A. Gregory, 2023. "Food Insecurity in the United States: Measurement, Economic Modeling, and Food Assistance Effectiveness," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 15(1), pages 279-303, October.
    20. Gagliano, Katrina M. & Yassa, Monica O. & Winsler, Adam, 2023. "Stop the shame and the hunger: The need for school meal program reform," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    21. Eamon, Mary Keegan & Wu, Chi-Fang, 2011. "Effects of unemployment and underemployment on material hardship in single-mother families," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 233-241, February.
    22. Caroline Ratcliffe & Signe-Mary McKernan & Sisi Zhang, 2011. "How Much Does the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Reduce Food Insecurity?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1082-1098.
    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. Chi-Fang Wu & Yu-Ling Chang & Soohyun Yoon & Salma Musaad, 2022. "How do low-income single-mothers get by when unemployment strikes: Patterns of multiple program participation after transition from employment to unemployment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(9), pages 1-22, September.
    2. McKernan, Signe-Mary & Ratcliffe, Caroline & Braga, Breno, 2021. "The effect of the US safety net on material hardship over two decades," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    3. 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.
    4. Dean Jolliffe & Juan Margitic & Martin Ravallion & Laura Tiehen, 2024. "Food stamps and America's poorest," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 106(4), pages 1380-1409, August.
    5. Vogel, Stephen & Miller, Cristina & Ralston, Katherine, "undated". "Impact of USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on Rural and Urban Economies in the Aftermath of the Great Recession," USDA Miscellaneous 314934, United States Department of Agriculture.
    6. Jones, Jordan & Courtemanche, Charles & Denteh, Augustine & Marton, James & Tchernis, Rusty, 2021. "Do State Snap Policies Influence Program Participation among Seniors?," IZA Discussion Papers 14564, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Cesar Montalvo & Vicki Lancaster & Joseph J. Salvo & Stephanie Shipp, 2024. "A novel approach to assessing food insecurity for small geographic areas using household living budgets," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 16(6), pages 1569-1586, December.
    8. Bronchetti, Erin T. & Christensen, Garret & Hoynes, Hilary W., 2019. "Local food prices, SNAP purchasing power, and child health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    9. John Iceland & Arthur Sakamoto, 2022. "The Prevalence of Hardship by Race and Ethnicity in the USA, 1992–2019," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(5), pages 2001-2036, October.
    10. Wang, Julia Shu-Huah & Zhao, Xi & Nam, Jaehyun, 2021. "The effects of welfare participation on parenting stress and parental engagement using an instrumental variables approach: Evidence from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    11. Rodems, Richard & Shaefer, H. Luke, 2020. "Many of the kids are not alright: Material hardship among children in the United States," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    12. 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.
    13. Jinglin Feng & Linlin Fan & Edward C. Jaenicke, 2024. "The distributional impact of SNAP on dietary quality," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 55(1), pages 104-139, January.
    14. Wu, Chi-Fang & Eamon, Mary Keegan, 2010. "Need for and barriers to accessing public benefits among low-income families with children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 58-66, January.
    15. Marcia A. Shobe & Sophie Hill & Yvette Murphy-Erby & Baqir Fateh & Haixia Wang, 2023. "Food Security in the Time of COVID-19 for a Marshallese Community," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-20, February.
    16. Claire E. Altman & Colleen M. Heflin & Chaegyung Jun & James D. Bachmeier, 2021. "Material Hardship Among Immigrants in the United States: Variation by Citizenship, Legal Status, and Origin in the 1996–2008 SIPP," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(3), pages 363-399, June.
    17. Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso & Jales, Hugo B. & Liu, Judith & Wilson, Norbert L., 2023. "Moving Policies Toward Racial and Ethnic Equality: The Case of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1272, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. Loopstra, Rachel & Baumberg Geiger, Ben & Reeves, Aaron, 2025. "Did increasing the UK’s Universal Credit and working tax credits by £20 per week in 2020–2021 reduce food insecurity?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 127501, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Jordan W. Jones & Charles Courtemanche & Augustine Denteh & James Marton & Rusty Tchernis, 2022. "Do state Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program policies influence program participation among seniors?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(2), pages 591-608, June.
    20. Marianne P. Bitler & Hilary W. Hoynes & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2020. "The Social Safety Net in the Wake of COVID-19," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 51(2 (Summer), pages 119-158.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:kap:jfamec:v:46:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10834-024-09978-4. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.