The Health of Poor Urban Women: Findings from the Project on Devolution and Urban Change.
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| Title: | The Health of Poor Urban Women: Findings from the Project on Devolution and Urban Change. |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Polit, Denise F., London, Andrew S., Martinez, John M., Manpower Demonstration Research Corp., New York, NY. |
| Availability: | Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, 16 East 34 Street, New York, NY 10016. Tel: 212-532-3200; Web site: http://www.mdrc.org. |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 348 |
| Publication Date: | 2001 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Pew Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia, PA. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, NJ. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC. John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Miami, FL. Joyce Foundation, Chicago, IL. Cleveland Foundation, OH. George Gund Foundation, Cleveland, OH. William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia, PA. James G. Irvine Foundation, San Francisco, CA. California Wellness Foundation. Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, New York, NY. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, MI. Mott (C.S.) Foundation, Flint, MI. Ford Foundation, New York, NY. Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Kansas City, MO. Ambrose Monell Foundation, New York, NY. Alcoa Foundation, Pittsburgh, PA. Grable Foundation, Pittsburgh, PA. New York Times Co., NY. Open Society Inst., New York, NY. |
| Intended Audience: | Policymakers |
| Document Type: | Reports - Descriptive |
| Descriptors: | Access to Health Care, Child Health, Employment, Females, Health Behavior, Health Insurance, Health Needs, Housing, Mental Health, Physical Health, Poverty, Urban Areas, Welfare Recipients, Welfare Services, Working Poor |
| Geographic Terms: | U.S.; New York |
| Abstract: | This report examines the prevalence and severity of health problems that hinder welfare recipients' ability to get and hold jobs, using data from interviews with women who in May 1995 received welfare and lived in four poor, urban areas. The study compared the health of women who had left welfare and were working, who combined welfare and work, who received welfare and did not work, or who neither worked nor received welfare. Interviews occurred in 1998 and 1999, before anyone had reached federal time limits. These women and their children had markedly higher rates of physical and mental health problems than did national samples. Their health problems were often multiple and severe. Over 70 percent faced at least one of eight health-related barriers to work (e.g., being morbidly obese or having a child with an illness that constrained employment), and 40 percent had two or more. Working women, especially welfare leavers, were in much better health than unemployed women, but many lacked health insurance. Women with multiple health problems were more likely than other women to have been sanctioned by welfare agencies in the previous year. Unemployed welfare leavers had the most compromised health situations. (Contains 190 references.) (SM) |
| Notes: | Also supported by the Anheuser-Busch, Heinz Family, and Union Carbide Foundations. |
| Journal Code: | RIEFEB2002 |
| Entry Date: | 2002 |
| Accession Number: | ED457276 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | This report examines the prevalence and severity of health problems that hinder welfare recipients' ability to get and hold jobs, using data from interviews with women who in May 1995 received welfare and lived in four poor, urban areas. The study compared the health of women who had left welfare and were working, who combined welfare and work, who received welfare and did not work, or who neither worked nor received welfare. Interviews occurred in 1998 and 1999, before anyone had reached federal time limits. These women and their children had markedly higher rates of physical and mental health problems than did national samples. Their health problems were often multiple and severe. Over 70 percent faced at least one of eight health-related barriers to work (e.g., being morbidly obese or having a child with an illness that constrained employment), and 40 percent had two or more. Working women, especially welfare leavers, were in much better health than unemployed women, but many lacked health insurance. Women with multiple health problems were more likely than other women to have been sanctioned by welfare agencies in the previous year. Unemployed welfare leavers had the most compromised health situations. (Contains 190 references.) (SM) |
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