The Neighborhood Contexts in Which Low-Income Families Navigate Welfare Reform: Evidence from the Three-City Study
Collections
Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
Type of Work
Department
Program
Citation of Original Publication
Bennett, Pamela R., and Andrew J. Cherlin. “The Neighborhood Contexts in Which Low-Income Families Navigate Welfare Reform: Evidence from the Three-City Study.” Social Science Quarterly 92, no. 3 (2011): 735–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2011.00790.x.
Rights
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Bennett, Pamela R., and Andrew J. Cherlin. “The Neighborhood Contexts in Which Low-Income Families Navigate Welfare Reform: Evidence from the Three-City Study.” Social Science Quarterly 92, no. 3 (2011): 735–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2011.00790.x., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2011.00790.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
Subjects
Abstract
Objectives. We investigate the neighborhood contexts in which low-income families negotiate welfare reform. Methods. Using data from the Three-City Study and U.S. Census, we follow 1,059 low-income women from 1999 to 2005 tracking their neighborhood quality, employment, and welfare use. We evaluate whether improvements in residential contexts facilitate transitions to economic self-sufficiency, but also test the reverse possibility. Results. Despite living in similar neighborhoods in 1999, women who left welfare experienced larger reductions in neighborhood disadvantage than women who remained on welfare. Likewise, women who left welfare with employment achieved larger increases in neighborhood quality than those who left welfare without work; the latter experiencing neighborhood change no different than those who stayed on welfare. Conclusions. Neighborhood conditions are, at minimum, associated with welfare outcomes. Findings suggest that neighborhood quality increases after women leave welfare, though we cannot reject the possibility that better neighborhoods lead to better welfare outcomes.