Oregon Families Who Left Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or Food Stamps: In-Depth Interview Themes and Family Profiles (Vol. 2)
Loading...
Date
2001-01
Authors
CSWS Welfare Research Team
Acker, Joan
Morgen, Sandra
Heath, Terri
Barry, Kate
Gonzales, Lisa
Weigt, Jill
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Center for the Study of Women in Society, University of Oregon
Abstract
The success and limitations of Oregon’s welfare reform policies are best measured
by an examination of the effects of these policies on the economic status and well-being of
families whose lives have been most directly affected by those policies. Ironically, the
voices of poor people themselves are often neglected in public debates about welfare
policy. This report, a companion to Oregon Families Leaving Temporary Assistance to
Needy Families (TANF) and Food Stamps: A Study of Economic and Family Well-Being
From 1998 to 2000, consists of profiles of seventy-eight families who participated in both
telephone surveys and in-person interviews, following them for almost two years after they
left or were diverted from Food Stamps or TANF in the first quarter of 1998. Their lives
are vivid portraits of families who have to live on incomes that position most of them in or
near the bottom quintile (one-fifth) of the economy.
The experiences of most of these families do not confirm the stereotypes so often
used to characterize the poor. Nor do they speak in one voice about work, family, public
assistance, Adult and Family Service programs or the juggling act of daily life. However,
they were loud and clear about one point: the vital importance of public assistance
programs for their economic survival and family well-being.
Description
232 pages
Keywords
SES, family income, poverty, welfare