Urban Change and Poverty (1988) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Family Structure, Poverty, and the Underclass
Family Structure, Poverty, and the Underclass
Pages 102-147
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From page 102... ...
We examine both overall trends and trends in central cities to determine whether the change in family structure is more or less prominent in urban areas than in suburban and nonmetropolitan areas. Following the description of trends, we discuss the causes of the growth in such families, including the effects of increases in income transfer programs 102
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From page 103... ...
Despite their status as family head, single mothers earn an average income that is between 30 and 40 percent of the earnings of married fathers. The absence of child support from noncustodial parents and low welfare benefits in most states also contribute to income insecurity and poverty.
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From page 104... ...
PREVALENCE, GROWTH, AND CAUSES OF MOTHER-ON[Y FAMILIES In 1983 there were over 5.7 million families headed by single mothers in the United States, representing about 19 percent of all fannies (Bureau of the Census, 19843. Among whites, these families
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From page 105... ...
During the 1970s, however, the trend lines for both races appear to rise faster in central cities than in the general population. Numerous explanations have been put forward to account for the growth of families headed by single mothers during the past few decades, and there is a vast literature of empirical studies that attempt to test many of these arguments.
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From page 106... ...
declines in men's employment opportunities, especially those of young black men. Creases In Welfare Benefits Both common sense and economic theory suggest that raising public benefits to single mothers and their children will increase the number of mother-only families.
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From page 107... ...
Not surprisingly, studies that examine the correlation between welfare benefits and the stock of mother-only families are more likely to find effects than are studies that examine the effects of benefit levels on particular flows in and out of single motherhood. Studies of stocks conducted by Honig (1973)
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From page 108... ...
In short, although increased benefits may have led to a measurable increase in prevalence, they account for only a small portion of the total growth in mother-only families.) That the increase in government benefits played only a small role in the overall growth in families headed by single women does not mean that the effects of benefits on single motherhood should be ignored.
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From page 109... ...
These researchers concluded that changes in job opportunities for men and women between 1960 and 1970 could account for about half of the decline in marriage during this period, or about half of the increase in single women. In her replication of the Preston and Richards study, however, White (1981)
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From page 110... ...
Presumably, however, there is less chance of such an omitted variable being correlated with aggregate variations in unemployment rates across cities. Again, numerous aggregate-level studies have found a relationship between high unemployment rates and low wages on the one hand and high single motherhood and divorce rates on the other hand (Honig, 1973; Minarik and Gol~farb, 1976; Ross and Sawhill, 1975)
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From page 111... ...
Given that the increase in single motherhood hap been especially pronounced among black women who have low levels of educationwomen whom we would have expected to marry men in low-skilled jobs the researchers conclude that the loss of jobs in the central cities is a major factor in the growth of mother-only families. THE FEMINIZATION OF POVERTY One of the most serious problems facing mother-only families is 2 The West, which accounts for only 9 percent of the total black population, did not fit the pattern.
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From page 112... ...
In 1967, 21.4 percent of the non-aged poor were living in households headed by single mothers, compared with 41.4 percent in two-parent households. By 1978, the pattern was reversed: 35 percent of the
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From page 113... ...
no child support from the second parent, and (3) meager public transfers.
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From page 114... ...
These findings should not be interpreted to mean, however, that if all single mothers worked full-time, only 6 percent of them would be poor. To some extent, the apparent advantage of working mothers reflects the selection process that channels women with higher earnings capacity into the labor force and women with Tower earnings capacity into homemaker status.
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From page 115... ...
The human capital hypothesis is that (a) for various reasons (specialization within households, differences in lifetime labor force participation, time preferences, labor force attachment, etc.)
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From page 116... ...
Work history variables (e.g., years of full-time labor force experience and years of on-thejob trainings are the most important factors in accounting for the portion of the wage gap that is explained (Corcoran and Duncan, 1979~. Differences in human capital are clearly important in accounting for earnings differences between women and men.4 It is also significant, however, that they account for less than half of the wage gap.
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From page 117... ...
In mother-only farn~lies, child support payments from noncustodial fathers account for only one-tenth of family income for whites and less than onetwentieth for blacks. Income from child support is low partly because a large proportion of single mothers receive no child-support.
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From page 118... ...
Their estimate indicated that the poverty gap the difference between the incomes of poor families headed by women and the amount of money they would need to move above the poverty level would be reduced by more than a quarter. Low Welfare Payments A final cause of poverty in mother-only families is the relatively meager public transfers these families receive.
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From page 119... ...
Their growth between 1960 and 1978 accounted for only one-half of the observed feminization of poverty, the remainder being accounted for by the lack of improvement in the living standards of families headed by single women at a time when other groups experienced increasing incomes. Finally, the principal reasons for poverty in families headed by women are the low earnings capacity of the single mother, lack of adequate (or any)
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From page 120... ...
6Auletta's data come from case studies of participants in supported work programs run by the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation in New York City and Appalachia. The eligibility requirements for the New York program included being a recently released ax-offender, a recent ax-addict, a long-term welfare-dependent mother, or an unemployed high-school dropout— categories markedly similar to Auletta's four main divisions of the underclass.
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From page 121... ...
Given that few people have enough capital or wealth to make the sale of labor power unnecessary, however, the definition in terms of attachment to the labor force is adequate for most purposes. actual labor market theory suggests that a dichotomization of the American labor market has occurred over time, forging two separate labor markets a 'iprimaryn market and a "second oryx market in which workers and employers operate by fundamentally different behavioral rules (Gordon, 1977~.
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From page 122... ...
Persistence and Social Isolation In addition to weak attachment to the labor force, the notion of an underclass implies a persistence or permanence in status. Thus, individuals who are temporarily unemployed, ill, or dependent on welfare are not viewed as part of the underclass, whereas long-term welfare recipients and those with unstable work histories are prime candidates.
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From page 123... ...
We now turn to the question of whether families headed by single mothers are part of the underclass by virtue of their own position or that of their offspring. To what extent do single mothers have a persistent, weak attachment to the labor force?
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From page 124... ...
Second, widows who receive Survivors Insurance and divorced or separated women who receive child support are indirectly linked to the labor force through the past or present participation of their former husbands, whether or not they themselves work. (This link to past employment, albeit indirect, may account for the generally higher benefits received by widows as compared with welfare benefits, and for the widespread perception that such income is theirs by right.)
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From page 125... ...
Featherman and Hauser (1978) reported similar results and noted that differences in status were due both to differences in educational attainment and to differences in the returns to education.
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From page 126... ...
Differences in income account for much of the difference in educational attainment among children from one- and two-parent families (Hetherington et al., 1983; Krein and Belier, 1986; McI.anahan, 1985; Shaw, 1979~. Yet income explains very little of the reproduction of single motherhood and welfare dependence (McLanahan, 1987~.
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From page 127... ...
The top two rows in Table 2 present data on the proportion of families with children that are headed by single mothers and by others living in poverty areas of the 100 largest cities in the United States in 1979. The data are presented both as a proportion of families living in the central city and an a proportion of all families in the United States The bottom pane} presents separate figures for black and white families headed by a single mother.
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From page 128... ...
128 o oo oo a ._ ._ v v oo s" C: o o a, ._ ~n s" ¢ :^ s" a, o P~ ._ bO ._ ._ oo ._ ._ C: o o ._ o o P~ e~ m ¢ E~ D]
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From page 129... ...
Thus, even if one accepts the premise that social isolation is serious in neighorhoods that are 20 percent poor, only 19 percent of all families headed by single mothers would fit the classification of belonging to an emerging urban underclass. The last two rows of Table 2 indicate that the proportions differ dramatically by race.
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From page 130... ...
Living in Poverty Areas Black families 27.2 25.2 -8 Poor black families 28.6 30.4 6 Black mother-only families 30.5 29.7 -3 Poor black mother-only families 30.7 31.4 2 Black persons 27.2 26.5 -3 6.3 8.3 32 Poor black persons 28.3 30.5 8 9.4 13.1 40 NOTE: Census tracts with 20 percent poor include tracts with 30 and 40 percent poor, and tracts with 30 percent poor also include all those tracts with 40 percent poor. AFDC = Aid to Families with Dependent Children.
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From page 131... ...
RECENT PUBLIC POLICIES REGARDING FAMILIES HEADED BY SINGLE WOMEN Children who grow up in families headed by single women are clearly disadvantaged. As adults, they have lower socioeconomic status; they are more likely to become single parents themselves, either through out-of-wedIock births or divorce; and they are more likely to be dependent on government.
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From page 132... ...
The nature of each of these trends and their effects on the poverty, welfare dependence, and prevalence of families headed by single women is discussed in turn. Reduction in Benefits Throughout the 1970s, the real value of AFDC benefits declined because state legislatures failed to increase benefit levels to keep pace with inflation.
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From page 133... ...
In view of both the recent growth in real wages and the recent resistance of Congress to enact further budget cuts, families headed by women will probably not be subjected to additional decreases in benefits in the near future. The evidence suggests that the budget cuts increased the poverty of mother-only families by nontrivial amounts in return for small-totrivial reductions in dependence and prevalence.
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From page 134... ...
Work Requirements Although able-bodied men have always been expected to work, expectations regarding poor women who head families have changed considerably. Until the early twentieth century, single mothers were expected to work.
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From page 135... ...
Some analysts have argued that it is not possible to find or create enough jobs to enforce work requirements when the unemployment rate is over 7 percent (General Accounting Office, 1985~. Yet a number of states have already demonstrated their ability to create and find jobs.
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From page 136... ...
Although the potential gains in earnings can be relatively large, the increase in the incomes of single mothers will be smaller than the increase in earnings because they will lose some AFDC and other transfer benefits. Whether AFDC families realize gains or losses from the enforcement of work requirements will depend on the nature of the key programs that aid poor single mothers and on the attractiveness and availability of jobs in the regular labor market.
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From page 137... ...
Such complete participation in the labor force is the exception rather than the rule among all mothers, contrary to popular belief. Single mothers already work more hours than wives in married-couple households: 35 percent of single mothers with children under 6 work at least 1,500 hours per year, compared with 23 percent for comparable wives.
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From page 138... ...
Requiring single mothers to work for their welfare checks places a heavy burden on them. Child Support Congressional interest in enforcing child support grew as the proportion of AFDC children with absent fathers grew.
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From page 139... ...
Increased enforcement of child support will raise the incomes of some single mothers who receive AFDC high enough to enable them to leave welfare. The precise effect of the child-support legislation on welfare dependence will vary according to the extent that collections will increase as a result of wage withholding and the new state standards, on the one hand, and the effect of the increased collections on caseloads, on the other.
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From page 140... ...
Child-support legislation could address two dimensions of the disadvantage suffered by families headed By single women: the low earnings of mothers relative to fathers and the lack of support from the absent parent. Child-support legislation in general attempts to tackle the latter
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From page 141... ...
Enhanced enforcement of child support is, on balance, likely to reduce the prevalence of families headed by single women. It is also likely to reduce out-of-wedlock births by giving men an incentive to take responsibility for birth control.
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From page 142... ...
1981a Child Support arid Alimony, f978. Current Population Reports Special Studies, Series P-23, No.
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From page 143... ...
J Duncan 1979 Work history, labor force attachment and earnings differences between the races and the sexes.
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From page 144... ...
M Kitagawa 1985 The impact of social status, family structure, and neighborhood on the fertility of black adolescents.
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From page 145... ...
H Beller 1986 Family Structure and Educational Attainment of Children: Differences by Duration, Age, and Gender.
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From page 146... ...
Ross, H., and I Sawhill 1975 Time of lEan~itior`: The Growth of Families Headed by Women.
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From page 147... ...
M Neckerman 1986 Poverty and family structure: The widening gap between evidence and public policy issues.
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