Poverty, Public Assistance and Single Mothers
A Comparative Look at Norway, Russia and the U.S
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v3i1.34Keywords:
Social Work, Single Mothers, Lone Parents, Public Assistance, Norway, Russia, United States, Comparative ResearchAbstract
This article presents some of the perceptions and experiences of mothers on public assistance and their social workers in three countries—Norway, Russia and the US. Based on in-depth interviews in each country with social workers and the women, five themes emerged that will be presented here. The mothers spoke of the inadequacy of economic support to meet their needs, a life of poverty that sometimes involved discrimination of them as mothers, and a loss of hope that their lives could be different. Two themes that stood out in the interviews with social workers was the lack of resources needed to help their clients and the dilemma faced as an agent of social welfare institutions balanced with being an advocate for the mothers’ needs.
References
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Abramovitz, M. (1988): Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present. Boston, MA: South End press.
Arias, D. C. (2007): Federal report examines links between poverty, health access, Nation’s Health, Vol. 37 No. 2, March p 7.
Baker, M. (2002) When flexibility meets rigidity: sole mother’s experiences in the transition from welfare to work, Journal of Sociology, Vol 38, No. 4 pp 345-360.
Brandwein, R.A. and Filiano, O.M. (2000): Toward real welfare reform: The voices of battered women. Affilia, Vol 15 No. 2 pp 224-243.
Brown, P. (2004): Single mothers, poverty and social work: A case study from U.S. In (Eds.)
R. Lyngstad, R., Hutchinson, S.G., Lund, L. and Oltedal, S. Single Mothers, Poverty and Social Work: Case Studies from Norway, Australia, Canada, Russia and USA, HBO rapport 8, Høgskolen i Bodø
Brown, P. (2001) Social work in USA In (Eds) Hutchinson, G., Lund, L., Lyngstad, R. and Oltedal, S. (Eds.) (2001) Social Work in Five Countries: Professional, Educational and Social Policy Context for Social Work in Australia, Canada, Norway, Russia and USA, pp 211-262. HBO-rapport 25, Høgskolen i Bodø, Norway.
California Budget Project (2007) Independent analysis to improve the lives of low- and middle-
income Californians, www.cbp.org.
Corcoran, M., Danziger, A., Kalil, A. & Seefeldt, K.S. (2000): How welfare is affecting women’s work. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol 26, pp 241-69.
Danziger, S, Corcoran, M., Danziger, S., Heflin, C., Kalil, A., Levine, J., Rosen, D., Seefeldt, K. Siefert, K. and Toman, R. (1999: Barriers to the employment of welfare recipients, Discussion Papers DP# 1193-99, Institute o Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Danziger, S. and Gottschalk, P. (1995): America Unequal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Dinerman, M. and Faulkner, A.O. (Eds.) (2000): Affilia, Special Issue “Women and the new American welfare” Vol 15 No. 2.
Edin, K. and Lein, L.A. (1997): Making Ends Meet: How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low-Wage Work, New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990): The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Cambridge, MA: Princeton University Press.
Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A., Van Praag, B. (2001): Poverty in Russia, Journal of Happiness Studies, June 2001, Vol. 2 No. 2 pp147-172.
Finn, J.L. and Jacobson, M. (2003). Just Practice: A Social Justice Approach to Social Work. Peosta, Iowa: eddie bowers publishing.
Finn, J. (1994). The promise of participatory research. Journal of Progressive Human Services Vol. 5, pp 25-42.
Fisher, G.M. (1992): The development of Orshansky poverty thresholds and the subsequent history as the official U.S. poverty measure. Poverty measures studies and alternative measures. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/povmeas/papers/orshansky.htmld
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Gordon, L. (1994): Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
Gordon, L. (1988): Heroes of their Own Lives: The Politics and History of Family Violence. New York: Viking Penguin Inc.
Gutierrez, L.M. (1991): Developing methods to empower Latinos: the importance of groups. Social Work with Groups, Vol 14 No. 2 pp 23-43.
Haper, K. (2001): Stereotypes, childcare and social change: how the failure to provide childcare perpetuates the public perception of welfare mothers, Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, Vol 4 No. 2 pp 387-414.
Fisher, G.M. (1992): Poverty Measurement Working Papers: The Development of the Orshansky Poverty Thresholds and Their Subsequent History as the Official U.S. Poverty Measure, U.S. Census Bureau.
Hall, B. (1975). Participatory research: An approach for change, Convergence Vol 8, No. 2, pp 24-32.
Hutchinson, G., Lund, L., Lyngstad, R. and Oltedal, S. (Eds.) (2001) Social Work in Five Countries: Professional, Educational and Social Policy Context for Social Work in Australia, Canada, Norway, Russia and USA, HBO-rapport 25, Høgskolen i Bodø, Norway.
Jennings, P. K. (2004): What mothers want: welfare reform and maternal desire, Journal of sociology and social Welfare, Vol 31 No. 3 pp 113-130.
Jones-DeWeever, A.A. and Gault, B. (2006): Resilient and Reaching for More: Challenges and Benefits of Higher Education for Welfare Participants and their Children, Publication No. D466, Washington D.C.: Institute for Women’s Policy Research pp1-53.
Kohlert, N. (1989): Welfare Reform: A Historical Consensus, Social Work, Vol 34 No. 4 pp 303-306.
Lindhorst, T. and Mancoske, R.J. (2006): The Social and Economic Impact of Sanctions and Time Limits on Recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Vol 33 No. 1 pp 93-114.
McIntyre, L., Officer, S., Robinson, L.M. (2003): Feeling poor: the felt experience of low- income lone mothers. Affilia, Vol 18, No. 3, pp 316-331.
Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. and Romanov (2004) Social work in Russia, pp 159-210 In (Eds) Lyngstad, R., Hutchinson, G., Lund, L. and Oltedal, S. (Eds.) (2004) Single Mothers, Poverty and Social Work: Case studies from Norway, Australia, Canada, Russia and U.S. HBO-rapport 8, Høgskolen i Bodø: Norway.
Lyngstad, R., Hutchinson, G., Lund, L. and Oltedal, S. (Eds.) (2004) Single mothers, poverty and social work: Case studies from Norway, Australia, Canada, Russia and U.S. HBO-rapport 8, Høgskolen i Bodø: Norway.
Maguire, P. (1987): Doing participatory research: A feminist approach. Amherst: University of Massachusetts.
McIntyre, L., Officer, S. and Robinson, L.M. (2003): Feeling poor: The felt experience of low- income lone mothers. Affilia, Vol 18 No. 3 pp 316-331.
McPhee, D.M. & Bronstein, L.R. (2003): The journey from welfare to work: Learning from women living in poverty. Affilia, Vol 18, No. 1, pp 34-48.
Millar, J. (2001): Work-related activity requirements and labour market programmes for lone parents. In Millar, J. and Rollingson, K. (Eds.) (2001). Lone Parents, Employment and Social Policy: Cross National Comparisons. pp. 189-210. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press.
Millar, J. and Rollingson, K. (Eds.) (2001). Lone Parents, Employment and Social Policy: Cross National Comparisons. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press.
Nicolas, G. and JeanBaptiste, V. (2001): Experiences of women on public assistance. Journal of Social Issues, Vol 57 No. 2 pp 299-310.
Park, P., Brydon-Miller, M., Hall, B. and Jackson, T. (Eds) (1993): Voices of Change, Westport:
Bergin and Garvey.
Pearlmutter, S. and Bartle, E.E. (2000): Supporting the move from welfare to work: what women say, Affilia, Vol 15 No. 2, pp 153-172.
Popple, P.R. and Leighninger, L. (2005): Social Work, Social Welfare and American Society Boston: Pearson.
Rainford, W.C. (2004): Paternalistic regulation of women: Exploring punitive sanctions in temporary assistance to Needy Families, Affilia Vol 19 No. 3 pp 289-304.
Richan, W. and Mendolsohn, A.R. (1973): Social work: The unloved profession, New York: New Viewpoints.
Scarbrough, J.W. (2001): Welfare mother’s reflections on personal responsibility. Journal of Social Issues, Vol 57, No. 2, pp 261-276.
Scott, J. (2006): Job satisfaction among TANF leavers, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Vol 33 No. 3 pp 127-149.
Seccombe, K.,.Hartley, H., Newsom, J., Hoffman, K., Marchand, G., Albo, C., Gordon, C., Zaback, T., Lockwood, R., and Pope, C. (2007): The Aftermath of Welfare Reform Journal of Family Issues, Vol 28 No. 1 pp 151-181.
Seccombe, K. (1999): “So You Think I Drive a Cadillac?”: Welfare Recipients’ Perspectives on the System and its Reform. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Seccombe, K., James, D. & Walters, K.B. (1998): “They think you ain’t much of nothing”: the social construction of the welfare mother. Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol 60 No. 4 pp 849-865.
Spade, M. (1994): Poverty measures mask the depth of poverty in America. Clearinghouse Review, Washington D.C.: National Consumer Law Center pp 517-524.
Specht, H. and Courtney, M.E. (1994): Unfaithful Angels: How Social work Has Abandoned its Mission, New York: NY: The Free Press.
Swigowski, M.E. (1996): Women, poverty and welfare reform: A challenge to social workers. Affilia Vol 11, No. 1 pp 95-110.
Tandon, R. (1981): Participatory research in the empowerment of people. Convergence, Vol 16 No. 3 pp 5-15.
Tickamyer, A.R., Henderson, D.A., White, J.A. and Tadlock, B.L. (2000): Voices of welfare reform: Bureaucratic rationality versus the perceptions of welfare participants. Affilia, Vol 15 No. 2, pp 173-192.
U.S. Census Bureau (1998) Poverty. http://www.census.gov/
van Wormer, K. (1994): A Society without Poverty--the Norwegian Experience, Social Work, Vol 39 No. 3 pp 324-327.
Wilensky, H. and Lebeau, C.H. (1975). The Welfare State and Equality. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Abramovitz, M. (1988): Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present. Boston, MA: South End press.
Arias, D. C. (2007): Federal report examines links between poverty, health access, Nation’s Health, Vol. 37 No. 2, March p 7.
Baker, M. (2002) When flexibility meets rigidity: sole mother’s experiences in the transition from welfare to work, Journal of Sociology, Vol 38, No. 4 pp 345-360.
Brandwein, R.A. and Filiano, O.M. (2000): Toward real welfare reform: The voices of battered women. Affilia, Vol 15 No. 2 pp 224-243.
Brown, P. (2004): Single mothers, poverty and social work: A case study from U.S. In (Eds.)
R. Lyngstad, R., Hutchinson, S.G., Lund, L. and Oltedal, S. Single Mothers, Poverty and Social Work: Case Studies from Norway, Australia, Canada, Russia and USA, HBO rapport 8, Høgskolen i Bodø
Brown, P. (2001) Social work in USA In (Eds) Hutchinson, G., Lund, L., Lyngstad, R. and Oltedal, S. (Eds.) (2001) Social Work in Five Countries: Professional, Educational and Social Policy Context for Social Work in Australia, Canada, Norway, Russia and USA, pp 211-262. HBO-rapport 25, Høgskolen i Bodø, Norway.
California Budget Project (2007) Independent analysis to improve the lives of low- and middle-
income Californians, www.cbp.org.
Corcoran, M., Danziger, A., Kalil, A. & Seefeldt, K.S. (2000): How welfare is affecting women’s work. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol 26, pp 241-69.
Danziger, S, Corcoran, M., Danziger, S., Heflin, C., Kalil, A., Levine, J., Rosen, D., Seefeldt, K. Siefert, K. and Toman, R. (1999: Barriers to the employment of welfare recipients, Discussion Papers DP# 1193-99, Institute o Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Danziger, S. and Gottschalk, P. (1995): America Unequal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Dinerman, M. and Faulkner, A.O. (Eds.) (2000): Affilia, Special Issue “Women and the new American welfare” Vol 15 No. 2.
Edin, K. and Lein, L.A. (1997): Making Ends Meet: How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low-Wage Work, New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990): The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Cambridge, MA: Princeton University Press.
Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A., Van Praag, B. (2001): Poverty in Russia, Journal of Happiness Studies, June 2001, Vol. 2 No. 2 pp147-172.
Finn, J.L. and Jacobson, M. (2003). Just Practice: A Social Justice Approach to Social Work. Peosta, Iowa: eddie bowers publishing.
Finn, J. (1994). The promise of participatory research. Journal of Progressive Human Services Vol. 5, pp 25-42.
Fisher, G.M. (1992): The development of Orshansky poverty thresholds and the subsequent history as the official U.S. poverty measure. Poverty measures studies and alternative measures. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/povmeas/papers/orshansky.htmld
Government Accounting Office (1997): Poverty measurement: Issues in revising and updating the official definition. Report to the Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate pp 1-48.
Gordon, L. (1994): Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
Gordon, L. (1988): Heroes of their Own Lives: The Politics and History of Family Violence. New York: Viking Penguin Inc.
Gutierrez, L.M. (1991): Developing methods to empower Latinos: the importance of groups. Social Work with Groups, Vol 14 No. 2 pp 23-43.
Haper, K. (2001): Stereotypes, childcare and social change: how the failure to provide childcare perpetuates the public perception of welfare mothers, Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, Vol 4 No. 2 pp 387-414.
Fisher, G.M. (1992): Poverty Measurement Working Papers: The Development of the Orshansky Poverty Thresholds and Their Subsequent History as the Official U.S. Poverty Measure, U.S. Census Bureau.
Hall, B. (1975). Participatory research: An approach for change, Convergence Vol 8, No. 2, pp 24-32.
Hutchinson, G., Lund, L., Lyngstad, R. and Oltedal, S. (Eds.) (2001) Social Work in Five Countries: Professional, Educational and Social Policy Context for Social Work in Australia, Canada, Norway, Russia and USA, HBO-rapport 25, Høgskolen i Bodø, Norway.
Jennings, P. K. (2004): What mothers want: welfare reform and maternal desire, Journal of sociology and social Welfare, Vol 31 No. 3 pp 113-130.
Jones-DeWeever, A.A. and Gault, B. (2006): Resilient and Reaching for More: Challenges and Benefits of Higher Education for Welfare Participants and their Children, Publication No. D466, Washington D.C.: Institute for Women’s Policy Research pp1-53.
Kohlert, N. (1989): Welfare Reform: A Historical Consensus, Social Work, Vol 34 No. 4 pp 303-306.
Lindhorst, T. and Mancoske, R.J. (2006): The Social and Economic Impact of Sanctions and Time Limits on Recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Vol 33 No. 1 pp 93-114.
McIntyre, L., Officer, S., Robinson, L.M. (2003): Feeling poor: the felt experience of low- income lone mothers. Affilia, Vol 18, No. 3, pp 316-331.
Iarskaia-Smirnova, E. and Romanov (2004) Social work in Russia, pp 159-210 In (Eds) Lyngstad, R., Hutchinson, G., Lund, L. and Oltedal, S. (Eds.) (2004) Single Mothers, Poverty and Social Work: Case studies from Norway, Australia, Canada, Russia and U.S. HBO-rapport 8, Høgskolen i Bodø: Norway.
Lyngstad, R., Hutchinson, G., Lund, L. and Oltedal, S. (Eds.) (2004) Single mothers, poverty and social work: Case studies from Norway, Australia, Canada, Russia and U.S. HBO-rapport 8, Høgskolen i Bodø: Norway.
Maguire, P. (1987): Doing participatory research: A feminist approach. Amherst: University of Massachusetts.
McIntyre, L., Officer, S. and Robinson, L.M. (2003): Feeling poor: The felt experience of low- income lone mothers. Affilia, Vol 18 No. 3 pp 316-331.
McPhee, D.M. & Bronstein, L.R. (2003): The journey from welfare to work: Learning from women living in poverty. Affilia, Vol 18, No. 1, pp 34-48.
Millar, J. (2001): Work-related activity requirements and labour market programmes for lone parents. In Millar, J. and Rollingson, K. (Eds.) (2001). Lone Parents, Employment and Social Policy: Cross National Comparisons. pp. 189-210. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press.
Millar, J. and Rollingson, K. (Eds.) (2001). Lone Parents, Employment and Social Policy: Cross National Comparisons. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press.
Nicolas, G. and JeanBaptiste, V. (2001): Experiences of women on public assistance. Journal of Social Issues, Vol 57 No. 2 pp 299-310.
Park, P., Brydon-Miller, M., Hall, B. and Jackson, T. (Eds) (1993): Voices of Change, Westport:
Bergin and Garvey.
Pearlmutter, S. and Bartle, E.E. (2000): Supporting the move from welfare to work: what women say, Affilia, Vol 15 No. 2, pp 153-172.
Popple, P.R. and Leighninger, L. (2005): Social Work, Social Welfare and American Society Boston: Pearson.
Rainford, W.C. (2004): Paternalistic regulation of women: Exploring punitive sanctions in temporary assistance to Needy Families, Affilia Vol 19 No. 3 pp 289-304.
Richan, W. and Mendolsohn, A.R. (1973): Social work: The unloved profession, New York: New Viewpoints.
Scarbrough, J.W. (2001): Welfare mother’s reflections on personal responsibility. Journal of Social Issues, Vol 57, No. 2, pp 261-276.
Scott, J. (2006): Job satisfaction among TANF leavers, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Vol 33 No. 3 pp 127-149.
Seccombe, K.,.Hartley, H., Newsom, J., Hoffman, K., Marchand, G., Albo, C., Gordon, C., Zaback, T., Lockwood, R., and Pope, C. (2007): The Aftermath of Welfare Reform Journal of Family Issues, Vol 28 No. 1 pp 151-181.
Seccombe, K. (1999): “So You Think I Drive a Cadillac?”: Welfare Recipients’ Perspectives on the System and its Reform. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Seccombe, K., James, D. & Walters, K.B. (1998): “They think you ain’t much of nothing”: the social construction of the welfare mother. Journal of Marriage and the Family, Vol 60 No. 4 pp 849-865.
Spade, M. (1994): Poverty measures mask the depth of poverty in America. Clearinghouse Review, Washington D.C.: National Consumer Law Center pp 517-524.
Specht, H. and Courtney, M.E. (1994): Unfaithful Angels: How Social work Has Abandoned its Mission, New York: NY: The Free Press.
Swigowski, M.E. (1996): Women, poverty and welfare reform: A challenge to social workers. Affilia Vol 11, No. 1 pp 95-110.
Tandon, R. (1981): Participatory research in the empowerment of people. Convergence, Vol 16 No. 3 pp 5-15.
Tickamyer, A.R., Henderson, D.A., White, J.A. and Tadlock, B.L. (2000): Voices of welfare reform: Bureaucratic rationality versus the perceptions of welfare participants. Affilia, Vol 15 No. 2, pp 173-192.
U.S. Census Bureau (1998) Poverty. http://www.census.gov/
van Wormer, K. (1994): A Society without Poverty--the Norwegian Experience, Social Work, Vol 39 No. 3 pp 324-327.
Wilensky, H. and Lebeau, C.H. (1975). The Welfare State and Equality. Berkeley: University of California Press.
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2008-04-01
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Brown, P. A. (2008). Poverty, Public Assistance and Single Mothers: A Comparative Look at Norway, Russia and the U.S. Journal of Comparative Social Work, 3(1), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v3i1.34
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