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Welfare Receipt Trajectories of African-American Women Followed for 30 Years

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Abstract

Although there has been much discussion about the persistence of poverty and welfare receipt among child-rearing women in the US, little is known about long-term patterns of poverty and welfare receipt or what differentiates those who remain on welfare from those who do not. Furthermore, are there distinctions between child-rearing women who are poor but not on welfare from those who do receive welfare? This study examined trajectories of welfare receipt and poverty among African-American women (n = 680) followed from 1966 to 1997. A semiparametric group-based approach revealed four trajectories of welfare receipt: no welfare (64.2%), early leavers (12.7%), late leavers (10.1%), and persistent welfare recipients (10.1%). The “no welfare” group was further divided into a poverty group and a not poverty group to distinguish predictors of welfare from predictors of poverty. Multivariate analyses revealed differences in predictors of trajectory groups in terms of education, physical and psychological health, and social integration. In addition, earlier chronic illness and social integration were important predictors to differentiate between long-term users (i.e., late leavers, persistent recipients) and short-term users (i.e., early leavers). Trajectories did not differ in teenage motherhood, substance use, or family history of welfare receipt. Implications for public policy are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Institute of Aging (1R01AGO27051-01; Ensminger, PI) and the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH52336; Ensminger, PI). The Woodlawn Advisory Board contributed to the conduct of the project. Mrs. Jeannette Branch (deceased) and Ms. Derian King of the Advisory Board were key participants in the design of the overall project. Ms. Sally Murphy and Ms. Ezella Pickett from NORC were particularly helpful in the collection of these data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health, Behavior, and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Hee-Soon Juon PhD, Kate E. Fothergill & Margaret E. Ensminger

  2. Department of Public and Community Health, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, USA

    Kerry M. Green

  3. Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Judith D. Kasper & Roland J. Thorpe

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  1. Hee-Soon Juon PhD
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  2. Kerry M. Green
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  3. Kate E. Fothergill
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  4. Judith D. Kasper
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  6. Margaret E. Ensminger
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Correspondence to Hee-Soon Juon PhD.

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Juon, HS., Green, K.M., Fothergill, K.E. et al. Welfare Receipt Trajectories of African-American Women Followed for 30 Years. J Urban Health 87, 76–94 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-009-9413-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-009-9413-0

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