Research Report Relationship Between Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Locations, Changing Welfare Policies, and the Employment of Single Mothers, The
Signe-Mary McKernan, Robert I. Lerman, Nancy M. Pindus, Jesse Valente
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With single mothers as the primary beneficiaries of welfare and roughly 20% of working-age welfare recipients living in rural areas, an important research question is whether the employment responsiveness of single mothers differs in rural and urban areas. Using nationally representative CPS data, we analyze the relationship between rural-urban locations, changing welfare policies, and the employment of single mothers. Contrary to earlier evidence, we find that welfare reform is playing a major role in raising the employment rates of single mothers, and the gains are approximately as high in rural as in urban areas.

Research Areas Social safety net
Tags Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Rural people and places