Single Mothers, the Underclass, and Social Policy

McLANAHAN Sara and Irwin Garfinkel
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McLANAHAN Sara: Department of Sociology and the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison
Irwin Garfinkel: School of Social Work and the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1989, vol. 501, issue 1, 92-104

Abstract: This article focuses on the question of whether mother-only families are part of an emerging urban underclass. An underclass is defined as a population exhibiting the following characteristics: weak labor force attachment, persistence of weak attachment, and residential isolation in neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty and unemployment. We find that only a small minority of single mothers fit the description of an underclass: less than 5 percent. But a small and growing minority of black, never-married mothers meet all three criteria. We argue that welfare programs are necessary but that too heavy a reliance on welfare can facilitate the growth of an underclass. In contrast, universal programs such as child support assurance, child care, health care, children's allowances, and full employment would discourage such a trend and promote economic independence among single mothers.

Date: 1989
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:501:y:1989:i:1:p:92-104

DOI: 10.1177/0002716289501001006

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