Sandra Danziger | University of Michigan (original) (raw)

Papers by Sandra Danziger

This report addresses the sources and remedies for child poverty in the United States through a r... more This report addresses the sources and remedies for child poverty in the United States through a review of the effects of trends, policies, and changes in social relationships; and an analysis of data concerning poverty and children. An introduction sketches the present condition of children in poverty and the policies and attitudes of the past 30 years. The next section reviews trends in family incumes and poverty, pointing out the antipoverty effects of economic growth and government policies. It also focuses on poverty and income transfer recipiency among children, emphasizing the diversity of the poverty population and analyzing those who are and are not aided by income transfer programs. The third cection analyses the effects of changes in family structure and family size on child poverty. The fourth section discusses evidence on persistent poverty and welfare receipt and examines the emergence of an urban underclass. The fifth section analyses some important consequences of poverty for child health and development: adolescent pregnancy and out-of-wedlock childbearing, infant mortality and low birthweight, and others. The paper concludes with an antipoverty agenda for the 1990s. Included are 9 tables, 7 graphs, and an 89-item bibliography.

Act (PRWORA) of 1996 ended the federal entitlement of cash assistance for needy families with chi... more Act (PRWORA) of 1996 ended the federal entitlement of cash assistance for needy families with children and created the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program (TANF). TANF replaces the former Aid to Fam-ilies with Dependent Children program (AFDC) and provides transitional assistance conditional on work or the performance of work-related activ-ities; it requires most recipients to go to work within two years of enter-ing the program. The number of individuals receiving assistance has declined sharply since the passage of PRWORA. The employment and

Lone parents, employment and social policy

Children and Youth Services Review, 2015

Recent changes in the institutional and political environment, including the rise of a neoliberal... more Recent changes in the institutional and political environment, including the rise of a neoliberal logic that favors private solutions to social problems and increasing political partisanship, have created new challenges for statewide legislative advocacy. Yet, there is a lacuna in the study of the sector’s response to new and contradictory environmental pressures. Using the lens of institutional and resource dependence theories on organizations, this qualitative case study targets this gap by examining how a nonprofit statewide legislative advocacy organization for vulnerable children has responded to shifting political and institutional conditions that have transpired since its founding in the early 1990s. It examines 1) how the organization has made sense of these emerging challenges and demands, 2) how these shifts have reshaped its advocacy practices, and 3) how they have influenced the viability of the organization. Adaptive responses of the organization included a shift in emphasis from direct legislative advocacy to advocacy directed at the implementation of policy and grassroots advocacy. Implications for the future of statewide legislative advocacy for vulnerable children are discussed.

President Lyndon Johnson declared War on Poverty in 1964 with the goal of eliminating income pove... more President Lyndon Johnson declared War on Poverty in 1964 with the goal of eliminating income poverty. Although his key economic advisors expected this goal to be achieved by 1980, progress against poverty slowed dramatically after the early 1970s. The official poverty rate in the U.S. was about the same in 2003, 12.5 percent of all persons, as it had been 30 years earlier. In this chapter, we reflect on the rise and fall of antipoverty policy as a national priority, highlighting key changes in welfare policies for families with children over the past four decades. Antipoverty programs reduce market-generated poverty to a greater extent today than they did when the War on Poverty was launched. However, most of the increase in the antipoverty effect of the social safety net is due to programs and policies that were enacted and/or expanded in one decade, 1965 to 1975. The main exception is the Earned Income Tax Credit that grew into the most effective antipoverty policy for families with children by the mid-1990s. Today, only the elderly have an extensive social safety net that protects them from the fluctuations of the business cycle and the secular economic changes that have led to declining real wages for many workers and high poverty rates for families with children. For the nonelderly, U.S. antipoverty programs are no more effective now than they were 25 years ago, and they are much less-effective than those in other advanced industrialized economies. Since 1980, there has been relatively little political or public interest in launching a major antipoverty initiative in the U.S. However, the lessons learned from the U.S. experience were influential in Prime Minister Blair's 1999 declaration of "war on child poverty" in the United Kingdom. We conclude by offering some thoughts on the implications of the U.S. experience for the choices of antipoverty policies in Mexico.

Women & Health, 2004

We use a panel study of Michigan current and former welfare recipients to estimate the prevalence... more We use a panel study of Michigan current and former welfare recipients to estimate the prevalence and persistence of health problems in the post-reform welfare population and the ir role in women's employment. Rates of health problems were disproportionately high. Over 70 percent of current and former welfare recipients reported limitations in physical functioning; over 60 percent met the criteria for a mental health disorder measured in the study; and 37 percent reported having a child with a health problem in at least one of four interviews over a 4½-year period. Women who reported physical health, mental health, or child health problems at multiple waves worked fewer months. There were no racebased differences in employment length or in physical health problems, but African-Americans were less likely than whites to meet the diagnostic screening criteria for depression, to meet criteria for general anxiety disorder, and to report a child with a health problem. These findings suggest that the inclusion of persistent health problems as determinants of work in human capital models increases understand ing of the transition from welfare to work. Policies need to reexamine welfare's work requirements to encourage states to provide services and supports to recipients. KEY WORDS. Employment of welfare recipients, race differences, health problems The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 led some analysts to warn that physical and mental health problems might hinder recipients' abilities to successfully move from welfare to work. Olson and Pavetti (1996) and Loprest and Acs (1996) reported that rates of depressive symptoms and physical health problems among welfare recipients and their children were higher than among women and children in the general population. Recent reviews report

Social Policy and Society, 2003

Falling welfare rolls in the US has focussed attention on those remaining on the caseload, variou... more Falling welfare rolls in the US has focussed attention on those remaining on the caseload, variously termed the ‘hard to serve’ or ‘difficult to employ’. Using data from the first three years of the Women's Employment Study, a sample of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) recipients drawn in an urban county in Michigan, this article examines the barriers that inhibit people moving off welfare. The analysis indicates that the kinds of skill deficits and other personal problems experienced by welfare recipients are not frequently and systematically addressed within the rapid-employment, welfare to work models widely implemented across the USA.

Journal of Social Issues, 2000

In this paper, we examine socioeconomic and psychological well-being among 88 low-income minor mo... more In this paper, we examine socioeconomic and psychological well-being among 88 low-income minor mothers in one Michigan County. Half of the young mothers receive cash welfare assistance and are subject to new policy mandates regarding co-residence status and school attendance. Our paper also describes the administrative process and conditions of welfare receipt for teen mother families and the research that suggests how these new mandates and conditions may affect family well-being. We find that a sizeable number of young mothers were unaware of the new welfare requirements at the time of their children's birth. However, most teen mothers appear to be "complying" with the requirements of the new welfare rules and most are satisfied with their current living arrangements. Many are faring poorly on dimensions of psychological well-being and life stress. Receipt of cash welfare is not a significant correlate of school success, parenting stress, or economic strain, and teens' living with their mothers does not mitigate the association of childcare problems, depressive symptoms, and experiences of domestic violence with the well-being indicators. We discuss the implications of our results for research, policy, and services for teen parent families.

Journal of Poverty, 2013

Studies since the 1996 welfare reform found caseload reductions and little improvements in well b... more Studies since the 1996 welfare reform found caseload reductions and little improvements in well being. This paper provides qualitative analysis of program experiences a decade later. From telephone interviews of Michigan recipients, we observed that respondents' identify one of four combinations of needs for services. They highlighted unmet needs for further education, healthrelated challenges, interim unemployment-related services, or concrete help with cyclical low wage work. The depth and duration of joblessness and hardship of the Recession and recent state-level cutbacks underscore the urgency of client-driven policy guidelines to address the diverse challenges of low income families.

Children and Youth Services Review, 2003

Using data from a longitudinal sample of former and current welfare recipients in Michigan spanni... more Using data from a longitudinal sample of former and current welfare recipients in Michigan spanning 1997-1999, this study examines how transitions from welfare to work affect parenting behavior and child behavior problems. We use a fixed-effects regression design to control for all time-invariant characteristics of mothers and children that may bias estimates of the associations between maternal work behavior and child well-being. We find that moving from welfare-reliance to combining welfare and work is associated with a decrease in harsh parenting, an increase in positive parenting, and decreases in both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems among children. We do not find evidence that parenting practices account for the associations between the transition from welfare to work and children's behavior problems. Overall, these results suggest that policies that allow women to combine welfare and work may be most beneficial for children.

Annual Review of Sociology, 2000

The new welfare system mandates participation in work activity. We review the evolution of the 19... more The new welfare system mandates participation in work activity. We review the evolution of the 1996 legislation and how states implement welfare reform. We examine evidence on recipients' employment, well-being, and future earnings potential to assess the role of welfare in women's work. Policies rewarding work and penalizing nonwork, such as sanctions, time limits, diversion, and earnings “disregards,” vary across states. While caseloads fell and employment rose, most women who left welfare work in low-wage jobs without benefits. Large minorities report material hardships and face barriers to work including depression, low skills, or no transportation. And disposable income decreased among the poorest female-headed families. Among the important challenges for future research is to differentiate between the effects of welfare reform, the economy, and other policies on women's work, and to assess how variations in state welfare programs affect caseloads and employment out...

This paper examines the complexity of low-income mothers' child care arrangements, with attention... more This paper examines the complexity of low-income mothers' child care arrangements, with attention to nonstandard job schedules and child care subsidies. Data come from the Women's Employment Study, a panel study of low-income mothers. Of interest is whether nonstandard work schedules and child care subsidies are associated with the type and amount of care families' use. Findings demonstrate that net of other factors, respondents who work evenings rely less on formal care, but use a significantly greater number of care hours annually. In addition, net of other factors, subsidy receipt is related to more formal care and a greater number of care hours annually. The robustness of these findings is examined with fixed effects regressions using three waves of WES data.

Annual Review of Sociology, 2010

This article highlights the scope of cash welfare as a poverty program and the policy context tha... more This article highlights the scope of cash welfare as a poverty program and the policy context that led to the legislative distinctions between pre- and post-1996. Trends in welfare, employment, and poverty for single-mother families are presented, as are hypotheses that guide studies of the effects of welfare reform. Social science and policy research on how the reforms have affected economic outcomes, how reform has been implemented, and how it affects children are highlighted. I next summarize research on child care subsidies, an example of an effective family support that was part of welfare reform. I also highlight lessons from studies of recipient perspectives and those focused on how leavers get by without welfare. I identify gaps in understanding the reduced role of cash welfare for low-income families and offer continuing policy and research questions for addressing poverty in the current economic crisis and recovery.

Child Abuse & Neglect, 2006

Objective-This study identifies factors associated with child protective services (CPS) involveme... more Objective-This study identifies factors associated with child protective services (CPS) involvement among current and former welfare recipients after welfare reform legislation was passed in the US in 1996. Method-Data come from the Women's Employment Study, a longitudinal study of randomly selected welfare recipients living in a Michigan city in 1997 (N = 541). In order to identify risk factors for CPS involvement among current and former welfare recipients, multinomial logit analyses with 29 independent variables were employed on a trichotomous dependent variable: no CPS involvement, investigation only, and supervision by CPS after investigation. Results-The relationship between work and involvement with CPS differs by work experience prior to welfare reform. As the percentage of months working after welfare reform increased, the risk of being investigated by CPS declined among those with prior work experience but the risk increased among those without prior work experience. However, work variables were not significant predictors of supervision by CPS after an initial investigation. Further, race, cohabitation, childhood welfare receipt, having a learning disability, having a large number of children, being newly divorced, living in a high problem neighborhood, and being convicted of a crime were associated with one's probability of being either investigated or supervised by CPS. Conclusions-These findings suggest that employment could have increased the stress levels of current or former welfare recipients without prior work experience to the point where they were prone to minor child rearing mistakes that resulted in a CPS investigation, but were not severe enough to warrant opening the case for supervision. Supports should be provided to welfare mothers who are prone to involvement with CPS; expansions in the childcare subsidy and a reduction or delay in work requirements might also help these families.

, and anonymous reviewers for comments on a previous draft.

for helpful comments, Barbara Ramsey for clerical assistance, and the M ichigan Family Independen... more for helpful comments, Barbara Ramsey for clerical assistance, and the M ichigan Family Independence Agency for their cooperation and consultation throughout this project. The opinions expressed are those of the authors exclusively.

We use a panel study of Michigan welfarerecipients to estimate the prevalence and persistence of ... more We use a panel study of Michigan welfarerecipients to estimate the prevalence and persistence of health problems in the post-reform welfare population and the extent

Prosperity for all? …, 2000

Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 have not allayed policy concerns about the employability o... more Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 have not allayed policy concerns about the employability of recipients remaining on the rolls. Analysis of potential barriers to employment can address whether current recipients have problems that either singly or in combination make it difficult for them to comply with the new requirements for getting and keeping jobs. In this paper, we explore the prevalence and work effects of 14 potential barriers in a new survey of a representative sample of 753 urban single-mother recipients. We report the prevalence of the barriers and how their number predicts employment rates, controlling for demographic characteristics. We also analyze which individual barriers are associated with employment and how a model inclusive of a comprehensive array of barriers improves upon a traditional human capital model of the work effects of education and work and welfare history. Single mothers who received welfare in 1997 had higher rates of personal health and mental health problems, domestic violence, and children's health problems than do women in national samples, but they were no more likely than the general population to be drug or alcohol dependent. Only 15 percent of respondents had none of the barriers and almost two-thirds had two or more barriers. The numbers of multiple barriers were strongly and negatively associated with working, and among the individual barriers, low education, lack of access to transportation, poor health, having drug dependence or a major depressive disorder, and several experiences of workplace discrimination reduced employment. Welfare-to-work programs need to be more finely targeted with respect to exemptions and service provision, and states should consider providing longer-term and enhanced supports for those who face low prospects of leaving welfare for employment.