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Grounded in Resilience Theory (Masten et al., 1990 (See CR27); Walsh, 1996 (See CR46); Walsh, 2002 (See CR47); Walsh, 2003 (See CR48)) with a specific focus on parental resilience (Gavidia-Payne et al., 2015 (See CR14)), this qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of low-income Female adult single parent (FASP) families. Each family had at least one adolescent aged 11 through 21 enrolled in special education classes and engaging in risk behaviors. Two central research questions were addressed. The first focused on the lived experiences of FASP and the second focused on their perspectives on how schools can enhance their support. Data were collected through face-to-face, in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Three major themes emerged: Life adjustment, The child is the priority, and Perseverance revealing their experience to be one of resilience. Participants also shared and provided insight on their perspectives regarding how schools can better support families. Findings revealed limited parent-school collaboration and highlight the need for further research with this population in the context of resilience. Suggestions for schools and communities working with such families are discussed., Author(s): Shaniqua J. Bradley [sup.1] , Sara E.Goldstein [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.260201.7, 0000 0001 0745 9736, Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy, Montclair State University, , 07043, Montclair, [...]

Using panel data from Dutch tax records linked to the municipality registry, we investigate how the partner status of never-married single mothers changes in the years after the birth of their first child. To explore a possible accumulation of financial problems, we study the effects of income on the chances of entering a marital of cohabiting union. We also examine the effects of finding a partner on income for never-married single mothers. Finding a partner substantially improves income. We find that about hall of the never-married single mothers marry of start cohabiting within 10 years of the first birth, but that these are usually mothers with average and higher incomes. Not only are never-married single mothers more likely to be poor at the time of first birth, the poor are also more likely to remain single. There seems to be an accumulation of disadvantage in this special group in Dutch society. Keywords: single motherhood; fertility; union formation; income; poverty; event-history models, panel data; the Netherlands [Submitted December 2008; Final version accepted June 2010] DOI: 10.1080/00324728.2010.506244

The changes in the material well-being of single mothers in the United States are examined. Increases in income inequality have been noted during the 1970s and 1980s. Increase in market work have been found to increase single mothers' access to private health insurance.

Findings are presented from a study of solo-mother families with an infant conceived by donor insemination (DI). Twenty-seven solo-mother DI families were compared with 50 married DI families on standardized interview and questionnaire measures of mothers' psychological well-being and the quality of parent-child relationships. Solo DI mothers showed lower levels of mother-child interaction and lower levels of sensitivity toward their infant than married DI mothers. Solo DI mothers appeared to be more open toward disclosing the donor conception to the child than were married DI mothers.

This study investigates the effects of receiving welfare as a young woman on long-term economic and marital outcomes. Specifically, we examine if there are differences between young, single mothers who [...]

Jane Addams, Sophonisba Breckinridge, and Edith Abbott of Chicago's Hull House are well known for influential social reform and women's suffrage activities during the Progressive Era. This article investigates how they envisioned citizenship for single mothers receiving mothers' pensions. The authors argue that these Hull House reformers advocated for women's full citizenship as workers, yet they positioned low-income mothers, regardless of work status, as caregivers first and individuals second. Ironically, these imposed limitations restricted all women's citizenship, including their own. The reformers' beliefs on this issue reveal the complexities of women's public welfare activism in historical context.

In this paper, the theoretical approach to the concept of lone motherhood is adopted from 'new' family sociology where families are understood to be dynamic processes constituted by webs of relationships. I analyse life stories written by lone mothers in order to examine the meanings that they give to their lone motherhood in relation to their larger family context. This approach reveals that, along with the concept 'family', the category 'lone motherhood' can be questioned. The life stories show that as with all families, the representations of 'the lone mother family' vary. Lone motherhood emerges less as a distinct family form and more as an experience coloured by the lone mother's position in a web of family relationships, as well as her place in her broader personal, social and historical context.

Objective: Lone mothers are among the most disadvantaged groups in many countries. Smoking prevalence among this demographic group is considerably higher than the general population. Previous work has shown that only part of this difference can be explained by age, not having a partner, living alone, and socio-economic factors. This study examined the contribution of mental health, the social environment, and the lifecourse in explaining the effect of lone motherhood on smoking status. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the 1995 National Health Survey and 2001 National Drug Strategy Survey were used. Smoking was defined as daily smoking. Mental health was assessed using a 14-item scale from the SF-36. Proportion of friends who smoke was used as an indicator of the social environment. Age started smoking daily ([less than or equal to] 18 and >18) was used as a lifecourse factor. Results: Mental health, proportion of friends who smoke and age of smoking initiation had strong associations with smoking status. However, they accounted for a small part of the association of being a lone mother and a smoker. After controlling for these factors, the odds of being a smoker among lone mothers were still twice those of mothers with partners (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.7-2.7). Conclusions and Implications: Improving the socio-economic status (SES), mental health and the social environment of lone mothers could help reduce their high smoking prevalence. However, much of the effect of being a lone mother remains even after controlling for these factors. More research is needed to discover why prevalence is so high among this demographic group.

This study was an exploratory investigation of parenting effectiveness among 135 single, low-income African American mothers. Two aspects of parenting were investigated, satisfaction with one's ability to parent and parent effectiveness or abilities. Two instruments were used to measure these concepts, the Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale (James, Schumn, Kennedy, Grigsby, Shectman, & Nichols, 1985) and the Parent Success Indicator for Parents (Strom & Strom, 1998). Results indicate high levels of effective parenting among the group on both measures. This was true regardless of the mother's age, level of income, level of education, number of children, or age of the oldest child. Implications for social work practice, policy, and research are presented. KEYWORDS. Parent effectiveness, parent satisfaction, parenting skills, single low-income African American mothers

This article describes what it means to feel poor from the perspective of low-income lone mothers. The construct of feeling poor is complex and multifaceted for these mothers, whose common behaviors include self-sacrifice and coping. The authors identify 10 feeling domains for these mothers: feeling deprived, righteous, the need for occupational choice, relatively better positioned than others, the need to manage the appearance of poverty, judged/degraded, guilty, isolated, dependent, and despondent. Keywords: poverty; single mothers; coping

This study examines the relationships of mother's assets (home ownership and savings) to, respectively, mother's expectations of child's educational achievement and child's actual educational outcomes in female-headed households. Analysis of data from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) indicates that assets of single mothers are positively associated with child's educational achievement and that this relationship is partially mediated through expectations. Positive association of household income with child's outcomes occurs mainly through mother's assets. The study indicates that regression models that include income but not assets are underspecified. Results support expansion of asset-based policies for poor women with children.

The authors examine the roll of family structure plays in the development of misbehavior and behavioral problems in children. Topic include endogeneity of family structure, effects of stepparents, and child characteristics.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of stigmatization and other pressures associated with single-motherhood on a variety of well-being variables. A sample of 356 Hong Kong Chinese single mothers, whose marriage ended due to divorce, husband's death, separation or desertion, responded to the self-administered questionnaire. The results show that stigmatization is a very salient factor affecting nine out of the eleven domains of psychological well-being. The impact on well-being of other social pressures, i.e., personal burdens and custodial responsibilities is rather limited. Deterioration in the employment situation after becoming a single parent is found to be the strongest predictor of stigmatization, whereas being on welfare and a lack of employment are positively and significantly correlated with stigmatization. KEYWORDS. Stigmatization, single mothers, well-being, Hong Kong

Data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics were used to study the economic situation of non-teenage single mothers. The economic variables considered include involvement in the labor force, use of welfare and family income before and after giving birth. The economic status of older, single childbearers was found to be closer to the condition of teenage mothers compared to married mothers of the same age, with white, 25 years and older single mothers having better conditions.

Many studies of single motherhood and related problems of welfare use and poverty have used data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Unfortunately, the PSID's Family Unit (FU) Head definition omits subfamily single mothers not observed to leave their household of origin. Resulting biases in terms of the age, race, welfare use, and poverty status are estimated in the present study by using the 1968-85 PSID Relationship File. Substantial undercounts of single mothers in the younger ages and some overcounts at older ages are found, especially for black mothers., I. Introduction The Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID; see Hill 1992) has been used extensively over the last 20 or so years to study single-motherhood (for example, Richards, White, [...]

'Race' and ethnicity have been muted features of British academic social policy debates around lone motherhood and in the stance taken by organisations representing lone parents. However, black lone motherhood is now receiving attention in both black, and white-dominated media. In this article, we examine the ways different groups of people in Britain address - or avoid - black lone motherhood. We raise a number of questions for social policy researchers to consider around whether and how black lone motherhood may be constructed and discussed.

1. Introduction The number of lone parents has risen very rapidly in the United Kingdom in recent years. In 1991 there were estimated to be 1.30 million lone parents representing [...]

The article examines estimates of duration models for unmarried mothers based on Survey of Income and Program Participation data for 1984 and 1985. Local variables, such as per capita sales and urbanization levels, were found to have significant impacts on welfare exit rates.

Weinraub and Wolf investigated maternal and preschool child functioning in households headed by solo mothers. Solo mothers - nonadolescent women raising children from birth without a male partner - differed from demographically matched, married counterparts with regard to stress and social supports, yet no differences in child outcomes were observed. Twenty-eight families (70%) from that original sample were reassessed as children entered preadolescence. Child measures included maternal and teacher report of behavior problems, social competence, and academic performance. Maternal measures included parenting, social supports, and stress. According to teachers, preadolescent children of solo mothers had more behavior problems, lower social competence, and poorer school performance than children of married mothers. Solo mothers continued to be less satisfied with emotional supports and reported higher stress. Maternal stress moderated family status effects on child outcome. Longitudinal analyses revealed stability over time for maternal and child variables, with greater vulnerability for children of solo mothers.

This article compares household income level and pre-schooler weight-for-age across household groupings that are differentiated by female headship variables which are reflective of the heterogeneity of female-headed households. Data from Kenya indicate that it is the interaction of income and female headship at low-income levels which promotes pre-schooler nutritional status. For Ghana, incomes have to be quite large (in the upper tercile of the distribution) before a reduction in the child's likelihood of having a low weight-for-age is achieved through further income increases. We argue that an absence of complementary child health inputs is more likely for households in the Ghana sample, and that in this type of environment, differences in nurturing patterns, as proxied by headship status, will have a muted impact on child nutrition., INTRODUCTION In general, self-declared female-headed households tend to be poorer, own less land, and have less access to land, labour, and government services, including credit [Gupta, 1989]. It is, therefore, [...]

A study by the Oregon Social Learning Center used structural equation models for older and younger boys to test whether the effects of socioeconomic disadvantages and maternal antisocial qualities on antisocial behavior problems would adversely effect parenting practices. The disrupted parenting practices of mothers with antisocial qualities who had older boys increased the risk of antisocial behavior problems for their sons.

This study examined a range of factors associated with variations in single mothers' well being (i.e., depression and role strain) and perceptions of their child's behavior. Seventy-six single, employed women with a preschool-age child completed a mailed survey. Multiple regression analyses indicated that variables reflecting the interface between work and family roles (e.g., beliefs about the consequences of maternal employment for children, perceived quality of child care) were important for both women's well-being and perceptions of children's behavior. Depression appeared to be more closely allied with the stability and resources in single mothers' lives; role strain, with the time and energy demands of work and the level of support available in the neighborhood. Interestingly, single women's perceptions of their children were associated with variables that reflect the larger ecology of their lives, including recency of single parenthood, the quality of their work life, and, as already noted, points of intersection between work and family roles.

Maternal employment has become a major factor in the workplace. This study examined the impact of such employment on a particularly vulnerable group: preschool children with single mothers. An ecological model was developed to examine the interrelated influence of the job, child care and family settings on child nutrition. The model was tested in a cross-sectional survey of 160, two- to four-year-old children with single, employed mothers in Winnipeg, Canada. Diet diversity emerged as a key variable, mediating the influence that child feeding practices and certain job, child care and home variables had on diet quality. The most important predictors of diet diversity were relative income and type of child care (i.e., licensed vs unlicensed). These results suggest that an ecological perspective be adopted for interventions as it would force the consideration of a multiple and interacting set of influences on child nutrition.

The authors used ecological theory to disentangle the effects of gender, family structure, and role responsibilities on parenting and children's behavior in single-parent and intact families. Data were gathered from parents and a focal child in 30 single-mother, 30 single-father, and 30 intact families. The Parent Perception Inventory (PPI) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were used to evaluate how positive and negative behaviors of parents and internalizing and externalizing behaviors of the children differed across the three family structures. Significant differences were found between single-parent and intact families for both parenting and children's behavior. The researchers determined that role responsibilities and family structure are more important than gender in explaining parenting and child behavior following divorce.

This article examines the ways in which dominant discourses about poor lone mothers are both contested and accommodated among three groups of actors within the workfare system in Toronto, Canada. Drawing on qualitative data from a national research project on lone mothers and social assistance, the authors examine and analyze how lone mothers construct their own subjectivity, as well as how it is constructed by workers in state-contracted nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that deliver job-readiness and related workfare programs and by welfare workers who assess and administer welfare benefits.

The results derived from data collected over 4 years from 139 rural, African American single mother families are discussed. Longitudinal links between contextual risks, parenting processes, development of youth self- regulation and conduct problems are also highlighted.

Tested a structural model (Patterson, 1986) of the effects of parental discipline on child coercive and antisocial behavior using a sample of 65 recently separated single-mother families with 6- to 8-year-old boys. Previous tests of this model used older boys and samples that allowed family structure to vary. The replication model produced acceptable fit, [x.sup.2](N=65)=70.6,p=.188, and explained 11% of the variance in antisocial behavior. Five alternative models were tested on this sample and are discussed briefly. The significance of generalization to this sample is discussed for the model's clinical usefulness, and further improvements to increase explainable variance are suggested.

The determinants of smoking among lone mothers over the period 1991-1996 were examined using panel data. The objective was to model the probability of smoking in terms of socio-economic characteristics and previous smoking history. Results raise issues of both an econometric and a policy nature. First, the relevance of accounting for the initial conditions problem when considering dynamic random effect probit models was demonstrated. Second, the findings are the first to systematically take account of previous smoking behavior when analyzing current smoking.