Factors influencing single mother’s employment status Article

Youngblut, JM, Brady, NR, Brooten, D et al. (2000). Factors influencing single mother’s employment status . Health Care for Women International, 21(2), 125-136. 10.1080/073993300245357

cited authors

  • Youngblut, JM; Brady, NR; Brooten, D; Thomas, DJ

abstract

  • Changes in the welfare system limit the length of time a person can receive welfare benefits, thus mandating employment for many current welfare recipients. Single mothers with young children who do not become employed will lose .financial support for housing, food, clothing, and health care and place their own and their children’s health and safety at risk. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore women’s experiences of being unemployed and to examine the barriers to employment perceived by single mothers who expressed a desire to be employed. Nine mothers were recruited from a larger sample of single mothers who had participated in a quantitative study about employment conducted 1 to 2 years earlier. Using focus group interviews, mothers were asked what it was like to be a single mother, and then what barriers to their employment they perceived. Two dimensions were identi. ed from the mothers’ statements. The first, a sense of obligation, included themes of “being there” for their own and their child’s bene. t and doing what it takes to optimize the child’s growth and development. The second, negotiating the obstacles, referred to problems regarding child care, lack of involvement of the child’s father, and lack of support from relatives and friends for the mother’s efforts toward securing employment. These findings have important implications for welfare reform, namely, that efforts aimed at moving nonemployee single mothers into the workforce will fail if these factors are not considered. © 2000 Taylor & Francis.

authors

publication date

  • January 1, 2000

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 125

end page

  • 136

volume

  • 21

issue

  • 2